The US Army has awarded Raytheon a $1.7-billion contract to deliver the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) to the US and Poland.
The package includes a total of nine radars, engineering services, spares, support, as well as development and testing for both countries, with Warsaw as the first international customer to add the LTAMDS to its air and missile defense architecture.
Meant to replace the aging Patriot radar, the 360-degree active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar successfully completed eight flight tests and achieved Milestone C, resulting in clearance to begin low-rate initial production in early 2025.
Meanwhile, full-rate production is anticipated by 2028, Program Executive Officer Missiles and Space Maj. Gen. Frank Lozano informed Defense News in April.
Tom Laliberty, president of Land & Air Defense Systems at Raytheon, described the latest contract to highlight “the need for LTAMDS amid increasingly complex and large raid threat tactics and underscores the US Army’s confidence in the system’s advanced 360-degree integrated air and missile defense capability.”
LTAMDS Milestones in Poland
The LTAMDS is part of the US Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense System, which includes the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) developed by Northrop Grumman.
Poland was the first US ally to adopt the IBCS in 2018 to support its WISŁA program that links older Patriot radars, launchers, and missiles into a single, smart network.
In another first, Poland’s state-owned Military Electronic Works (WZE) became the initial international supplier for the radar program when it signed a deal with Raytheon in early September to produce LTAMDS energy storage assembly modules.
