After a long search, the U.S. Army has officially approved the next-generation air and missile defense sensor (radar) that will replace the aging Patriot air and missile defense systems. The radar, which is now in the Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) phase, is expected to provide a significant leap forward in the Army’s air defense capabilities, according to a statement from system developer Raytheon.
As you may recall, the Army has been trying to modernize or replace the aging Patriot system for over 15 years. Although a full system competition was initially held, these plans were canceled and separate development of a new command and control system and a new radar was preferred.
Maj. Gen. Frank Lozano, program manager for missiles and space, called the new radar, the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS), “a very large, significant capability.” Lozano said LTAMDS “anecdotally doubles the capability of the old Patriot radar, and not just doubles it, but provides a 360-degree capability.”
LTAMDS is a critical modernization element for the Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) system. The system will operate in conjunction with the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS), a fully modernized command and control capability that has already been fielded.
The Army awarded Raytheon a contract in 2019 to deliver prototypes within five years. General Lozano said building the radar quickly was a challenge and the service decided to keep it in testing for another year to make sure the sensor was fully mature and ready in time.
After several successful flight tests last fall and early this year involving other key air and missile defense elements, the system was deemed ready for low-rate initial production. The Army is preparing to ship two prototype systems to Guam, where they will be used in testing as it builds the island’s air defense capability.
“I’ve been with Raytheon for nearly 40 years and have worked on a lot of major development programs, and I have to say, I don’t know of any that have gone better,” said Tom Laliberty, Raytheon’s president of ground and air defense systems. “The time it took from contract award, construction of six prototype units, several years of testing, and now having those units ready for deployment to the field has been “unparalleled,” Laliberty said.
Laliberty noted that the LTAMDS has undergone eight major missile flight tests, along with approximately 10.000 hours of other tests, including radiation duration, radar tracking duration and wind, rain, dust and road marches to measure soldiers' endurance in harsh conditions.
Because LTAMDS is part of a larger air defense system, Raytheon and the Army have spent a lot of time maturing interfaces with the Northrop Grumman-built Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) and integrating two different missiles: the Patriot Advanced Capability 2 (PAC-2 GEM-T) and the PAC-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (MSE). “That’s really what that extra year was all about, maturing everything,” Laliberty said, emphasizing the importance of that integration effort.
The Army’s low-rate production batch will consist of about 10 radars. The service plans to build a total of 94 radars over the course of the program. Raytheon will also build 12 LTAMDS radars on order for Poland, the system’s first foreign customer.
Currently, it takes about 40 months to build an LTAMDS radar on a production line, but the Army worked with Raytheon and hired a consulting firm that specializes in supply chain management to reduce the production time to the official program goal of 36 months.
In terms of cost, the system is projected to spend about $13 billion over its lifetime, which he sees as “a big win,” Lozano said. “This is a very large program and will likely remain in the Army inventory for several decades. Because it is a software-driven digital radar, it will mature and advance at the same pace as evolving threats,” Lozano said.
“We are building the old Patriot radar for $110 million to $115 million per copy. Right now, the initial cost of the LTAMDS radar is about $125 million to $130 million per copy. That cost will continue to come down. We are building the newest, most advanced radar for about the same price that we built the old radar,” Lozano said.
The Army’s low-rate production phase will last approximately two and a half years. The service plans to conduct initial operational testing and evaluation of the LTAMDS in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2026. General Lozano added that the service is targeting full production in 2028. The introduction of this next-generation radar is expected to significantly increase the U.S. Army’s air defense capabilities and provide more effective protection against potential threats.
