Raytheon demos prototyping of AESA/GaN technologies into Patriot radar
Technology promises 360 coverage, better reliability, and lower life cycle costs
Raytheon has demonstrated successful prototyping of Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) and GaN technologies into the US Patriot Air and Missile Defense System radar. In addition to enabling future 360 sensor coverage, these technologies will increase the defended area and decrease the time to detect, discriminate and engage threats, says Raytheon. GaN-based AESA technologies will also further improve reliability and lower life cycle costs for the Patriot radar.
"GaN-based AESA technologies represent the future of ground-based sensors and will have future application to Raytheon's entire sensor portfolio," said Ralph Acaba, vice president of Integrated Air and Missile Defense at Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems business.
Raytheon has been developin GaN for 15 years and has invested over $150 million to get this latest technology in the hands of the warfighter faster and at lower cost and risk. Raytheon has demonstrated the maturity of the technology in a number of ways, including exceeding the reliability requirement for insertion into the production of military systems. This maturation of GaN resulted in a Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) production capability of "8," the highest level obtained by any organisation in the defense industry for this technology.
Raytheon is the prime contractor for both domestic and international Patriot Air and Missile Defense Systems and system integrator for Patriot Advanced Capability-3 missiles. The Patriot system is used by 12 nations around the globe.
