Raytheon’s [RTN] Patriot Air and Missile Defense-System offering for Poland and Germany’s missile defense programs includes solid-state advanced radar providing 360-degree coverage as a co-development opportunity.
Poland recently chose Raytheon’s Patriot and a consortium of Thales and MBDA for its mid-range missile defense system program. Raytheon has a similar offering for Germany’s missile defense.
Photo: Raytheon
For both bids, Raytheon is offering the 360-degree radar. For both countries, there is a co-development opportunity for an open architecture common command and control (C2) that can cover all the systems in any air and missile defense architecture.
As well, Raytheon has offered a missile mix–GEM-T, PAC-3 and PAC-3 MSE to match the missile to the threat–and a co-development opportunity for a new low-cost interceptor. For Germany, Raytheon has offered to integrate the IRIS-T missile as part of a missile mix of GEM-T, PAC-3 and the PAC-3 MSE missiles.
Raytheon’s 360 degree radar offering would be based on three fixed arrays, and outperform the rotating radar.
“The reliability of the radar doubles when we go solid state,” said Bill Blake, director, Integrated Air and Missile Defense Business Development, in an interview.
The 360-degree solid-state radar and the new common C2 co-development changes could be applied in the field for existing customers if they choose to upgrade, he said. For example, upgrading the radar is essentially lifting off one antenna and swapping it for another to change the main array to a solid state array. Then two additional panels are added to the back of the radar to provide the 360-degree coverage.
Successful missile defense radars are typically all staring arrays, Blake noted, such as the Missile Defense Agency’s sea-going SBX-missile defense radar and the AN/TPY-2, both also made by Raytheon.
Threats are smaller, faster, and more complex and being used in ways with coordinated raids and other tactics that really challenges systems, he said. “Patriot is certified against those (threats), and as those threats get more complex and sophisticated…it requires faster updates on what threats are doing.” For the future, Blake said he believes the mechanically rotated radars will have to move to staring radars. Rotating radars must stop and stare, while the staring arrays provide a constant 360-degree view.
There are currently 12 Patriot system customers with more to come in the near future.
“Every (customer) has a different portfolio of systems for air and missile defense,” Blake said. The thinking about integrated air and missile defense can be very different from customer to customer.
“We’re taking a proven fire control and engagement capability in Patriot and building on that to provide common C2 that covers the entire air and missile architecture regardless” of what the systems are, he said..
The C2 implements a modern machine-user interface, Blake said. Upgrades in production today provide modern manned station with such things as a touch screen and a full color display. “The upgrade uses the most modern technology available to make the operator’s job much more effective.”
Blake said nine new Patriot fire units are in production today and 29 fire units are undergoing the upgrade process. Upgrades now, for the most part, are in kit form that Raytheon produces and are applied in the field. At any given time, systems are in the field pulling missions 24/7, a configuration in production is being deployed, and another configuration is in development and test.
The focus since the inception of the program has been continuously to identify how to use the latest technology to stay ahead of the threats and, at the same time, drive down costs.