Raytheon, an RTX Group company, has received $7 million in grant funding to further develop and evaluate its GhostEye® MR radar, an advanced mid-range sensor for the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), received.
These mark the first government orders for GhostEye MR, a multi-mission radar designed and developed by Raytheon through internal research and development investments. The funding will support further development of the radar and an operational evaluation at White Sands Missile Range later this year.
“This government support confirms the growing relevance and demand for GhostEye MR’s capabilities as nations around the world look to strengthen their air defenses,” said Tom Laliberty , president of Land & Air Defense Systems at Raytheon. “In partnership with the DoD, the Air Force and Kongsberg, we will showcase the sensor’s capabilities against a variety of new threats.”
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The White Sands trial will evaluate GhostEye MR’s operational performance, with the radar providing effective surveillance cues and integration with the battle-hardened NASAMS air defense system. This was preceded by a successful air defense experiment by the Strategic Developmental Planning & Experimentation (SDPE) office in Andøya, Norway, last September, which demonstrated NASAMS’s ability to combat and intercept various advanced airborne threats using multiple types of missiles from Raytheon and Kongsberg Defense & Aerospace’s Fire Distribution Center (FDC). The operational assessment in September will build on the capabilities demonstrated in Andøya by connecting GhostEye MR to the NASAMS FDC via the relevant US Air Force command and control systems.
The funding consists of a contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Lab’s SDPE office and the Department of Defense’s Rapid Prototyping Program (RPP).
GhostEye MR, a member of Raytheon’s GhostEye sensor family, is an advanced medium-range multi-mission radar for NASAMS. Launched in 2021, the radar will provide increased range and altitude coverage to expand NASAMS capabilities in defended areas. In addition, GhostEye MR leverages existing commonalities with the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) that Raytheon, an RTX Group company, is building for the US Army.
SOURCE: PRNewswire