Raytheon Missiles & Defense, a subsidiary of Raytheon Company, has taken the opportunity at the Association of the U.S. Army’s annual meeting and exhibition being held in Washington Convention Center from 11 to 13 October to unveil a new medium-range radar for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System, or NASAMS.
As noted by the company, the new, called GhostEye MR, is a variant of the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor that the company is building for the U.S. Army.
It is a scalable Active Electronically Scanned Array radar providing 360-degree surveillance and advanced fire control capabilities. Raytheon’s name for the family of radars based on LTAMDS is GhostEye. GhostEye MR is a separate, but concurrent, radar development program funded by Raytheon Missiles & Defense that leverages LTAMDS technology baseline and common manufacturing processes.
“GhostEye MR makes NASAMS even more capable for our current and future customers around the globe,” said Tom Laliberty, vice president of Land Warfare & Air Defense, a Raytheon Missiles & Defense business area. “We’re leveraging the best of our technology development from the U.S. Army’s most advanced radar to give the U.S. and our allies a robust sensor that can defend against a wide range of threats.”
Building on the progress of the LTAMDS program, GhostEye MR is on an accelerated path to availability. The sensor’s capabilities and performance were tested through a series of modeling and simulation-based threat scenarios. The radar will undergo open air testing in 2022, followed by customer demonstrations.
Raytheon Missiles & Defense, in partnership with Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace, produces and supports NASAMS. The system has been chosen by 12 countries for their air defense needs and has been integrated into the U.S. National Capital Region’s air defense system since 2005. In addition to the U.S., Norway, Finland, Spain, The Netherlands, Oman, Lithuania, Indonesia, Australia, Qatar, Hungary and one undisclosed country have selected NASAMS for defense of their homeland and critical assets.
Raytheon’s GhostEye MR is the latest program in the company’s vast portfolio of sophisticated radar systems, extending a legacy of technological innovation and manufacturing expertise that spans decades. The GhostEye family of radars will enhance the capabilities of U.S. and allies to defend against short, medium, and long-range threats.