News: Microelectronics
29 June 2020
Raytheon awarded $2.3bn US MDA contract
Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a business of aerospace & defense company Raytheon Technologies Corp of Waltham, MA, USA, has received a $2.3bn US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) production contract for seven gallium nitride (GaN)-based AN/TPY-2 (Army Navy/Transportable Radar Surveillance) units as part of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, which is designed to protect against incoming ballistic missile threats. The contract is part of a foreign military sale to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
“These highly capable X-band radars are the sharpest eyes in the global missile defense system,” says Bryan Rosselli, VP of Strategic Missile Defense at Raytheon Missiles & Defense. “The addition of GaN technology delivers capability for threats to be detected, tracked and discriminated with improved radar reliability.”
The mobile AN/TPY-2 missile defense radar uses X-band to clearly see ballistic missile threats. The radar system operates in two modes: forward-based mode — which detects ballistic missiles and identifies any lethal objects as they rise after launch — and terminal mode as part of the THAAD system, which guides interceptors toward a descending missile’s warhead.
Of the 14 AN/TPY-2 radars produced, seven are fielded as a part of US-operated THAAD systems, five operate in forward-based mode for the USA, and two are part of foreign military sales.
Raytheon awarded $10m MDA contract to upgrade X-band ballistic missile defense radar to GaN
Raytheon wins MDA contract modification to transition AN/TPY-2 radar production from GaAs to GaN