Raytheon completes first Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor radar antenna.

Raytheon finished building the first radar antenna array for the U.S. Army's Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor. It completed the work less than 120 days after the U.S. Army selected the company to build LTAMDS, a next-generation radar that will defeat advanced threats like hypersonic weapons.

Raytheon's Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor is a next-generation radar meant to defeat advanced threats like hypersonic weapons (Picture source: Raytheon)

A full-scale model of Raytheon's Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor, a next-generation radar that will defeat advanced threats like hypersonic weapons. Built for the U.S. Army, LTAMDS is a simultaneous 360°, Active Electronically Scanned Array radar powered by the company's Gallium Nitride circuits. Raytheon completed building the first LTAMDS radar antenna array less than 120 days after the U.S. Army selected Raytheon to build LTAMDS.

"Raytheon's employees and partners are focused on delivering the first LTAMDS by the Army's Urgent Material Release date because we know how important expanded battlespace coverage and other capabilities are to the men and women in uniform," said Tom Laliberty, vice president of Integrated Air and Missile Defense at Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems business. "Because we invested in cutting-edge radar technology and advanced manufacturing capability, we will meet the customer's critical milestones and get LTAMDS in the field rapidly."

The newly-built primary array, similar in size to the Patriot radar array, will provide more than twice its performance. Following extensive testing, the radar array will be mounted on a precision-machined enclosure for integration and further evaluation. The enclosure utilizes advanced design and manufacturing techniques for accelerated manufacture to support the U.S. Army's Urgent Materiel Release program.