Raytheon wins $1.4B Army radar deal

Under a $1.4 billion Army contract awarded late last week, Raytheon Co.

will design, develop and manufacture three radar systems for a high-altitude

missile-defense program.

The contract, announced Aug. 10, covers the engineering, manufacturing and

development phase of the Theater High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system,

an integrated system consisting of launchers, missiles, battle management

command and control, and radar.

The three radar systems will be new X-band, phased array, solid-state systems

evolving from existing Raytheon radars known as User Operational Evaluation

System, according to Stephen Larson, a company spokesman. Two of the radars

will be used extensively during this phase of the program, and the third

will become the first production radar, Larson said.

The Raytheon contract also calls for six battle management tactical shelter

groups, which will be used for ground and flight testing of the THAAD system

throughout the engineering, manufacturing and development phase. Each shelter

is housed on two Humvee trucks and contains hardware and software for managing

a tactical missile battle.

THAAD, a $4 billion program, is described as the upper tier of the Army's

two-tier theater missile defense system. The higher-altitude and wide-area

protection furnished by the THAAD system interfaces with the lower-tier

Raytheon Patriot Air and Missile Defense System.

Lockheed Martin Corp. is the prime contractor for THAAD and is providing

seven launchers; six command and control stations; Raytheon's three radar

systems and six battle management tactical shelter groups; and 30 missiles

for the engineering, manufacturing and development phase with an option

for 14 additional missiles.