Ground troops soon could benefit from quicker and more accurate close air support (CAS). The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Raytheon Company of Waltham, Mass., the contract to develop a new phase of CAS, which would give ground troops and air crews the ability to work together to select and use precision-guided weapons, the agency announced June 14. Once incorporated and perfected, the so-called Phase II system would mark the first major improvement in CAS since World War I, DARPA stated. The system would incorporate ground- and air-based components. The ground component would provide troops with greater mobility, situational awareness, and fire-coordination capability. The air component would feature an internal guidance system, weapons and engagement-management systems, and high-speed data transfer. Ground and air crews could share information with stationary computers or tablet devices. Systems and devices were tested in Afghanistan between December and March.