The publicly traded Raytheon Co. has started its work on the munitions control units for 126 of the Indian Air Force's Jaguar Darin II attack aircraft. The munitions control units allow the integration of modern weapons on legacy aircraft with minimal to no modifications to aircraft wiring and the flight or stores management software, the company said.

The munitions control unit's compact size enables it to be located in a weapons pylon or avionics bay of a legacy aircraft, the company explained. From there, it interfaces between "smart" weapons and the existing software of a legacy aircraft.

"Providing the IAF the capability to enhance their Jaguar fleet is the latest chapter in Raytheon's six-decade history of trusted partnership in India," said Harry Schulte, Raytheon Missile Systems' vice president of Air Warfare Systems. "Munitions control units will give the Jaguar the capability to employ •smart' or •advanced' weapons like the Joint Standoff Weapon, Maverick missile, Paveway precision-guided munition and AIM-9M Sidewinder air-to-air missile."
 
Raytheon was awarded a contract to build the munitions control units in 2011, and funding was authorized for the system in 2012. In anticipation of the contract, Raytheon began preliminary work to integrate munitions control units on Jaguar in 2008.

Raytheon, with 2011 sales of $25 billion, is a technology and innovation company specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 90 years, Raytheon provides electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. With headquarters in Waltham, Mass., Raytheon employs 71,000 people worldwide.