Raytheon contract of $1.5 billion for Patriot missile systems.

An undisclosed member of the 14-nation group that own the combat-proven Patriot Integrated Air and Missile Defense System has awarded American Company Raytheon Company a direct commercial sales contract worth more than $1.5 billion for additional capability. The contract was awarded on Jan 4, 2018.

M901 launcher unit of Patriot air defense missile system at Paris Air Show in June 2009 (Picture source Army Recognition)

The MIM-104 Patriot is a surface-to-air defense missile system (SAM) used by the United States Army and several allied nations. The Patriot uses an advanced aerial interceptor missile and high-performance radar systems. Patriot was developed at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, which had previously developed the Safeguard ABM system and its component Spartan and hypersonic speed Sprint missiles.

The concept of a mobile all-weather air defence missile was started in 1961 by the US Army Missile Command (MICOM) Research and Development Directorate as the Field Army Ballistic Missile Defence System (FABMDS), then became the Army Air Defence System-1970 (AADS-70). The first production systems of the Patriot MIM-104 were delivered to the US Army in June 1982 and a follow-on test and evaluation programme was conducted in 1983.

Raytheon has built more than 220 Patriot fire units and delivered them to customers in 14 countries including Egypt, Germany, Greece, Israel, Japan, Kuwait, Jordan, Netherlands, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, and United States.

In May 2017, The U.S. State Department approved a $2 billion sale of missiles to the United Arab Emirates including 60 Patriot PAC-3 interceptors made by Lockheed Martin Corp and 100 GEM-T missiles made by Raytheon Co. In November 2017, the U.S. State Department approved a possible $10.5 billion sale of Raytheon Co’s (RTN.N) Patriot missile defense system to Poland.

In November 2017, Romania has announced that the signature of signed a letter of offer and acceptance to purchase seven Patriot Configuration 3+ units, complete with radars, a control station, antennas, launching stations and power plants. The package will also include 56 Patriot MIM-104E Guidance Enhanced Missile TBM (GEM-T) missiles and 168 Patriot Advanced Capability — 3 Missile Segment Enhancement missiles.

November 7, 2017, Sweden has started negotiations on a $1.2 billion Raytheon Co contract to acquire Patriot air defense missile system.

The Patriot MIM-104 air defense missile defense system consists of 4 major components: the M901 launcher unit, configured with four interceptors per launcher for the PAC-1/2 and 16 interceptors per launcher for the PAC-3; the AN/MPQ-53 phased-array radar, designed to track enemy missiles or aircraft; the AN/MSQ-104 Engagement Control Station (ECS), the “man in the loop” for firing an interceptor; and the AN/MSQ-24, the 150 kW diesel powered generator units.

The PAC-3, the latest missile variant of Patriot air defense system differs significantly from the previous versions due to its use of hit-to-kill technology. The PAC-3 missile has a range of about 40 km and can reach targets at an altitude of up to 20 km.