Today, Tuesday, the US Army announced that it received the first radar capable of tracking hypersonic missiles and rockets from Raytheon Corporation.
According to a statement posted on the US Army website, the initial delivery is part of six radars planned by the Army for 2022 and marks the start of a series of extensive tests to demonstrate the performance and functionality of LTAMDS in an operational environment.
The new radars are expected to provide Army air defenses with “significantly greater capabilities against a wide range of advanced threats.”
LTAMDS is part of the Raytheon GhostEye family of radars, a 360-degree radar powered by gallium nitride, a material that amplifies the radar signal, improves its sensitivity, and increases its reliability.
The radar was specially designed for use as a sensor in the integrated command and control system for air and missile defense of the ground forces.
For its part, Raytheon said the “LTAMDS” system will be able to counter next-generation and advanced threats, including hypersonic weapons as well as those flying at speeds in excess of a mile per second, noting that “the basic array of radars is the same.” the size of a Patriot air defense system and a missile, but its power is more than twice as high.
The radar has been described as “containing three antenna arrays that work together to simultaneously detect and participate in multiple threats from any direction.”
Source: “Sputnik”