HUNTSVILLE, Ala., Aug. 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Even as the
combat-proven Patriot Air and Missile Defense System celebrates 50
years of innovation, revolutionary technologies developed by
Raytheon Company (NYSE: RTN) are evolving the battle-proven
platform to face the threats of today and tomorrow.
"Today's Patriot is an evolving, cutting edge system that was
built on a foundation of more than 2,500 ground tests, 700 flight
tests, countless operational deployments, and scores of combat
intercepts," said Ralph Acaba, vice president of Integrated
Air and Missile Defense at Raytheon's Integrated Defense
Systems business. "In close partnership with the US Army, our
international customers, and industry partners Raytheon has
introduced innovation into every aspect of Patriot: from upgrading
the hardware and software to stay ahead of the threat, to
sustaining the equipment, to going to the field to support the
warfighter."
Although the Patriots rolling out the door of Raytheon's
Andover, Mass. production facility
have the same name and look as earlier variants, the resemblance is
only skin-deep. Cold-war era vacuum tubes and monochrome
screens have long since disappeared, replaced by state of the art
technology: microchips smaller than a grain of salt and
hi-res touch-screen monitors that would be the envy of any
video-gaming enthusiast. Today's Patriot now uses three new
missiles – the GEM-T, PAC-3 and PAC-3 MSE – to engage drones,
aircraft, cruise missiles and tactical ballistic
missiles.
Even the design and manufacturing of Patriot has changed.
"Engineers now work in a 3-D virtual reality environment that
allows them to test a design approach prior to sending it to
production in Raytheon's largely automated factory," Acaba
said.
"Older" Patriots aren't really old anymore. That's because
Patriot is a system comprised of multiple elements including a
radar, missiles and the command and control system which are all
continually modernized. This is how Patriot evolves and
changes as the mission evolves and changes.
"Raytheon sustains Patriot," said Wally
Massenburg, Senior Director for Mission Assurance Business
Execution. "From a modernization standpoint, this means that take a
Patriot that was built a number of years ago, swap out all the old
associated hardware, and load in new software. And when we get
done, that system has the same capability as a Patriot built in
2015, and just as importantly, the same life-span."
The continual modernization and improvement is part of a
deliberate plan.
"The U.S. Army has committed to keeping Patriot in its inventory
until 2048, so the U.S. and the 12 Patriot partner nations continue
to make significant investments in the system to ensure it remains
ahead of the threat," said Tim
Glaeser, vice president of Integrated Air and Missile
Defense Business Development at Raytheon's Integrated
Defense Systems. "Global Patriot partner nations reap outsize
benefits from these investments because the improvements,
enhancements and user experiences are shared across the 13-nation
Patriot partnership."
The 13-nation partnership will soon grow to 14, as Poland recently selected Patriot for its air
and missile defense needs.
In addition to supporting the technology roadmap developed by
U.S. Army and the Patriot partnership, Raytheon is also investing
its own resources in the system. Case in point is Gallium
Nitride, or GaN, a technology that enhances system performance
while reducing production and operation cost.
"Raytheon is currently working on an internally-funded
research and development initiative, a GaN-based Active Electronic
Scanned Array Radar for Patriot which will ultimately make Patriot
less expensive to build and operate in the field, while giving
warfighters enhanced capability such as 360-degrees of protection,"
said Norm Cantin, Director of
Patriot Growth programs. "We have built and demonstrated 360-degree
capability with a GaN-based AESA pilot array, and are in the
process of building a full-scale demonstration radar."
The U.S. government recently cleared the Patriot GaN-based AESA
radar for export, and Raytheon has demonstrated the pilot array to
a number of countries, including the U.S. and Poland. In addition to using GaN-based AESA,
the main array also features other cutting edge technology, such as
a new, Polish-made Identification Friend or Foe antenna that helps
air defenders differentiate between enemy and friendly
aircraft.
"The combat-proven Patriot has an amazing track record and a
bright future ahead," said Acaba. "Stay tuned, because the best is
yet to come."
About Global Patriot Solutions
Raytheon's Global Patriot Solutions is the most advanced
portfolio of air and missile defense technologies in the world,
providing comprehensive protection against a full range of advanced
threats including aircraft, tactical ballistic missiles, cruise
missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. Continually upgraded and
enhanced to leverage the latest technology, thirteen nations
depend on Patriot as the foundation for their defense.
About GaN
Raytheon has been leading the innovation and development of
GaN for 15 years and has invested more than $150
million to get this latest technology in the hands of the
warfighter faster and at lower cost and
risk. Raytheon has demonstrated the maturity of the
technology in a number of ways, including exceeding the reliability
requirement for insertion into the production of military
systems.
About Raytheon
Raytheon Company, with 2014 sales of $23
billion and 61,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and
innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government
and cybersecurity markets throughout the world. With a history
of innovation spanning 93 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art
electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in
the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications
and intelligence systems, as well as cybersecurity and a broad
range of mission support services. Raytheon is headquartered in
Waltham, Mass. For more about
Raytheon, visit www.raytheon.com and follow us on Twitter
@raytheon.
Media Contact
Mike
Nachshen
+1.520.269.5697
idspr@raytheon.com
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