Raytheon begins upgrades to the Patriot Air and Missile Defense System

Raytheon Company recently began work on enhancements to the Patriot Air and Missile Defense System that will make the system more capable and improve its combat readiness.

The contract was issued by U.S. Army Contract Command, and was funded by the 13 nations that rely on the system for their defenses, which include the United States, the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Taiwan, Greece, Spain, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar.

The contract was initially announced on Feb. 1 and will provide more than 500 highly-skilled jobs across Alabama, Texas, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Raytheon will conduct software development, systems analysis, testing and logistics support.

“This contract will deliver critical capability to the warfighter while also employing highly skilled Americans,” Ralph Acaba, vice president of Raytheon’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense, said. “The members of the Patriot partnership share the cost of engineering services, which could be prohibitively expensive for a single nation.”

Defenses in the Patriot system include GaN-based AESA radar technology, common command control for seamless operations between allied nations, and the ability to fire multiple missile types to match the right missile to its corresponding threat. The system is continually upgraded to leverage the latest threat reduction and detection technologies.