RTX [RTX] used the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) to successfully help guide an intercept of a cruise missile type target, the company said on Monday.
The live-fire test is one in a set of development tests for LTAMDS, which is slated to become the new Army Patriot air defense systems’ radar. The test occurred at White Sands Missile Range, N.M.
In the test, a “cruise missile surrogate” flew a representative threat trajectory that was acquired and tracked by LTAMDS, which then passed the data to the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) for launch command. LTAMDS subsequently guided a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) missile to intercept the target.
LTAMDS is a 360-degree Active Electronically Scanned Array radar using Gallium Nitride.
The company said LTAMDS provides “dramatically more performance” against various air threats compared to the older legacy Patriot radar.
Last month, RTX said LTAMDS is on track to reach initial operational capability by the end of the year and full operational capability (FOC) in 2024 (Defense Daily, Oct. 5).
“When the LTAMDS contract was awarded four years ago, this was what we told the Army: we would deliver the world’s most advanced and highly capable air and missile defense radar,” Tom Laliberty, president of land and air defense systems at RTX, said in a statement. “Seeing LTAMDS come to life is not only gratifying to the scores of experts who designed and developed it, but it reaffirms the commitment we made to deliver this exceptional radar to air defenders around the globe. We’re now closer than ever to doing just that.”
RTX said following the recently completed contractor verification test, more test events will run through the end of the year.
“Rigorous testing” will continue in 2024 leading up to FOC, including robust environmental and mobility qualification and an expanded system of system testing, the company said.
RTX has completed production on all six LTAMDS radars contracted in October 2019 and confirmed they are all undergoing simultaneous testing at various test sites.