Colin Whelan, president of Advanced Technology at Raytheon, says the company’s all-optical processing technology could enable significantly faster response times across a broad range of applications.
- Raytheon will develop photonic circuits that use light rather than electricity to process signals, aiming to help operators detect threats sooner and maintain situational awareness.
- The technology aims to eliminate optical-to-electrical signal conversion to preserve signal strength and integrity as circuits become smaller and more complex.
- The company is collaborating with Synopsys, which will provide design and simulation tools for the project.
RTX’s (RTX) Raytheon business was awarded a Phase 1 contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop an all-optical signal processing system under its Photonic Integrated Circuit Architectures for Scalable System Objectives (PICASSO) program.
“By moving critical processing entirely into the optical domain, we can enable significantly faster response times for a broad range of applications,” said Colin Whelan, president of Advanced Technology at Raytheon.
RTX shares traded 1.1% higher at the time of writing.
Raytheon Advances Optical Processing Technology With Synopsys
Under the contract, Raytheon’s Advanced Technology team will design and demonstrate photonic circuit technology that uses light rather than electricity to process signals. The technology is intended to help operators detect threats sooner and maintain situational awareness in contested environments.
Current photonic circuits convert optical signals into electrical signals for further processing. Raytheon says eliminating that conversion step can help preserve signal strength and integrity as circuits become smaller and more complex.
Raytheon is working with Synopsys, which will provide design and simulation tools for the project. The company will draw on its experience in photonics process development, radio-frequency design, and military systems to advance all-optical processing technology.
Raytheon Selected To Modernize Space Force Radars
On October 15, RTX announced that its Raytheon business had been selected to modernize U.S. Space Force radar sites under the Ground-Based Radar Digitization (GBRD) program. The upgrades are intended to improve radar performance and reliability while strengthening early-warning and space-monitoring capabilities.
Raytheon will work with the Space Force and industry partners to develop a common, open architecture designed to improve sustainment efficiency, reduce vendor lock-in, and simplify future upgrades. The program will deliver prototype solutions before transitioning to rapid fielding at the remaining locations.
How Retail Views RTX
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment for RTX turned ‘Neutral’ territory from ‘Bearish’ a day ago. RTX was also one of the trending tickers on the platform at the time of writing.
RTX shares have gained over 10% year-to-date.
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