Raytheon [RTN] has officially submitted its proposal for the Army’s Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense program to find a replacement for the Patriot system’s current radar, ahead of a prototype contract likely to be awarded this fall. 

The announcement follows Raytheon’s participation in a two-week “sense-off” event at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico in which the company demonstrated its radar offering for Army officials.

Raytheon’s GaN-powered AESA air and missile defense radar. Photo: Raytheon

“Our proposal offers the Army a brand-new radar that overmatches the future threat,” Tom Laliberty, Raytheon’s vice president of integrated air and missile defense, said in a statement. “We brought our LTAMDS solution to the U.S. Army’s sensor demonstration and validated our ability to meet their 2022 urgent material release date.”

Raytheon noted its offering is a “simultaneous 360-degree, Active Electronically Scanned Array radar” powered by Gallium Nitride technology.

“We created a new radar because a redesigned, modified or upgraded radar simply can’t defeat the type of advanced threats the U.S. Army will face,” Doug Burgess, Raytheon’s LTAMDS program director, said in a statement. “Our solution is proof that the Army can have it all, a capable next generation radar, at an affordable price, fielded as quickly as possible.”

The LTAMDS program will look to replace the Patriot radar, which is built by Raytheon, after Army officials determined incremental upgrades may not provide the necessary capability to handle future threats.

Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Northrop Grumman [NOC] are also slated to submit LTAMDS proposals after also participating in the sense-off event. 

Raytheon said its partners on the program are Crane Aerospace & Electronics, Cummings Aerospace, IERUS Technologies, Kord Technologies, Mercury Systems and nLogic