LTAMDS radar approaches major milestone with U.S. Army: Raytheon official
NewsOctober 15, 2024
WASHINGTON, D.C. The Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) is approaching a major milestone with the U.S. Army as the radar moves closer to production and deployment, a company official said at the Association of the United States Army's (AUSA) annual meeting on Monday.
LTAMDS is nearing a Milestone C decision, which would transition the program from the development phase to full-scale manufacturing, said Mike Mills, executive director for LTAMDS/GhostEye programs at Raytheon.
"We've had a number of successful missile flight tests," Mills said. "Soldiers are starting to use it without industry partners. We've also been training the soldiers this year."
Raytheon is prepared to deliver two radars next summer, and a few months ago they received a low-rate initial production (LRIP) contract for eight radars, with six going to the U.S. military and two going to Poland, the first international customer of the program.
Mills said the company is talking to other countries, although any buys must go through the foreign military sales (FMS) process. A total of 19 countries use the Patriot missile defense system, and they would be the nations most likely to be interested in the platform, although none outside of Poland are formal customers yet.
Raytheon has made some changes to the platform, including shortening the trailer by 30 inches so the massive radar can be loaded onto a C-130 aircraft.
An LTAMDS system was on display on the AUSA exhibition floor throughout the week, as well as a smaller version of the radar known as the GhostEye.
