The US government has given approval for Raytheon Company of Waltham, MA, USA to export a gallium nitride- (GaN)-based Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Patriot sensor to Patriot Air and Missile Defense System partner nations.
"GaN-based AESA technology can bring customers of the combat-proven Patriot optimized 360° coverage while setting the stage for future capability improvements," says Ralph Acaba, VP of Integrated Air and Missile Defense at Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems business in Tewksbury, MA. "GaN-based AESA technology improves Patriot's already high reliability rate and significantly reduces the radar's annual operation and maintenance costs beyond what has already been achieved with other recent Patriot radar improvements."
The proven and mature GaN-based AESA technology that will be incorporated into Patriot is used in the design of the US Navy's new Air and Missile Defense Radar and a number of US Air Force systems. In February 2014, Raytheon demonstrated a GaN-based AESA prototype Patriot array using GaN manufactured in Raytheon's Department of Defense-certified Manufacturing Readiness Level 8 foundry. The firm's GaN foundry was the first to receive DoD MRL 8 certification, indicating that Raytheon's GaN is ready to enter production after having demonstrated proven manufacturing and quality processes.
Raytheon says that it has been developing GaN for 15 years and has invested more than $150m to get this latest technology in the hands of the warfighter faster and at lower cost and risk. The firm 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.
The Patriot air and missile defense system provides protection against a range of threats, including aircraft, tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). Continually upgraded and enhanced to reflect the latest technology, Patriot has been chosen by 13 nations around the globe. Raytheon is the provider of Patriot Air and Missile Defense Systems, both domestically and internationally, and system integrator for PAC-3 missiles.