Mary-Louise Hoffman
Raytheon will equip its Patriot air and missile defense system with a gallium nitride-based active electronically scanned array technology as part of efforts to modernize the system.
The company said Tuesday it will upgrade the Patriot for military customers to detect and identify adversarial manned and unmanned aircraft as well as cruise and ballistic missile threats.
Ralph Acaba, Raytheon’s vice president of integrated air and missile defense, noted the company has invested more than $150 million to build GaN technology for the Patriot offering.
The new radar technology is built to operate with an existing Patriot Engagement Control Station and the future Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System.
The Patriot AESA comprises three antenna arrays that are mounted on a mobile radar shelter and designed to offer users a 360-degree coverage area.
Raytheon has also created a mobile virtual reality application that works to help users experience how the company’s GaN-based radar technology scans the horizon.
