After completing contractor verification testing for the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS), RTX [RTX] said on Thursday the new Army radar is on track to achieve initial operational capability by the end of the year and full operational capability in 2024.
LTMADS achieved “significant technical and performance milestones” during the contractor verification testing at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico, according to RTX, with user training set to continue with the radar as the Army works toward a soldier-conducted operational assessment in the coming months.
“The strong performance of LTAMDS at this stage of testing is a critical milestone on the path to achieving an operational capability level by the end of this year,” Tom Laliberty, RTX’s president of land and air defense systems, said in a statement. “The progress made to date is a testament to our collaborative partnership with the U.S. Army and our shared commitment to getting this exceptional capability to air defense forces around the globe as soon as possible.”
LTAMDS is the Army’s program to field a new radar for the Patriot air defense system, also built by RTX.
RTX won the LTAMDS contract in 2019 and was awarded an initial deal worth $384 million to deliver the first six production representative systems, which was followed by a $354 million contract in July 2022 for additional radars (Defense Daily, July 13 2022).
“All six radars under the October 2019 contract have completed production and are undergoing simultaneous testing at various government and Raytheon test sites, conducting integration and test activities in parallel,” the company said in a statement.
The recent contractor verification testing involved “multiple radars” connected to the Army’s new Northrop Grumman [NOC]-built Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System (IBCS), with each individual test increasing in complexity, stressing the advanced features and capabilities” of the radar, according to RTX.
“The radar successfully completed 11 mission sets across a range of simulated operationally relevant environments,” RTX said. “Results included the effective search and track of multiple targets, including drones, fixed wing and rotary aircraft, cruise missile and tactical ballistic missile surrogates. Tracks were maintained throughout the duration of the test flights as were direct communications with a PAC-3 missile, culminating with a simulated engagement against a [tactical ballistic missile].”
The State Department in late June approved a potential $15 billion deal with Poland covering 48 Patriot M903 launch stations, up to 644 Lockheed Martin [LMT]-built PAC-3 MSE interceptor missiles and 12 LTAMDS radars (Defense Daily, June 28).
Poland then signed a letter of acceptance in early September for the $15 billion deal, with RTX noting the country will be the first international customer for the LTAMDS radar (Defense Daily, Sept. 5).
“With the introduction of LTAMDS, Poland will become the first country after the U.S. to complement the combat-proven Patriot with LTAMDS which provides extended range and full, 360-degree coverage to detect and defend against complex, highly coordinated, multi-threat attack scenarios,” Laliberty said in a statement last month.