Raytheon’s Live-Fire Test Moves New US Army Radar to Operational Use by Yearend

RTX unit Raytheon has completed a live-fire test on the U.S. Army’s Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor, marking a step toward the radar’s expected full operational capability by the end of 2023. 

In the latest test, which Raytheon detailed in a press release on Monday, the LTAMDS acquired and tracked a cruise missile proxy target flying a simulated threat trajectory. The radar’s track data was relayed for launch command to the Integrated Battle Command System, forthwith guiding a PAC-3 missile interceptor, RTX said.

The Army awarded the LTAMDS production contract to Raytheon in October 2019 to replace the Patriot air and missile defense radar under the service’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense System. 

The company delivered the first of six ordered LTAMDS to the Army in May 2022, and in October, Raytheon secured a contract to integrate multiple LTAMDS to the services Advanced Distributor Radar.

Production of all six Army LTAMDS under the 2019 contract has been completed, and all are being tested simultaneously at government and Raytheon test facilities.    

According to Raytheon, LTAMDS is a 360-degree, active electronically scanned array radar, drawing power from gallium nitride to detect a range of threats, including ballistic missiles, hypersonics and manned and unmanned aircraft.