The United States has approved the serial production of the latest LTAMDS radars to replace the old Patriot radars.

The news was published on the U.S. Department of Defense website.

Raytheon Missiles and Defense has signed a $2.09 billion contract to launch the initial production of LTAMDS radars.

The order is funded by the US RTD&E research and development program and Poland under the Foreign Military Sales program, which ordered 12 radars for six Patriot PAC-3 batteries in September 2013.

In this order, each radar station accounts for about $174 million in contract funds, but this is not a representative cost, as it obviously includes money for production scale-up.

At the same time, it is worth mentioning that in 2019, the United States ordered six pre-production radars for its army worth $384 million.

The radars will be manufactured at Raytheon’s facilities in Andover, Massachusetts. The contract is expected to be completed in November 2028.

LTAMDS

LTAMDS is the latest generation air and missile defense radar developed by Raytheon.

The developers position it as a system to combat next-generation threats, including hypersonic weapons and targets moving at speeds over 1600 m/s.

Unlike older radars with a sectoral view, LTAMDS has a 360-degree circular view. For this purpose, it has two additional side antennas of lower power in addition to the main “long-range” antenna array.

This configuration should increase the radar’s coverage area and close blind spots that can be used to bypass enemy weapons. The radar is also capable of transmitting data to other air defense systems, which will allow them to better coordinate their activities.

Last year, LTAMDS successfully completed tests, confirming proper integration into the Patriot PAC-3 air defense system. The new radars are to replace the outdated AN/MPQ-65 radars.