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The United States government approved Raytheon Company 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-degree coverage while setting the stage for future capability improvements," said Ralph Acaba, vice president of Integrated Air and Missile Defense at Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems business. "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 which will be incorporated into Patriot is used in the design of the U.S. Navy’s new Air and Missile Defense Radar and a number of U.S. Air Force systems. In Feb 2014, Raytheon demonstrated a successful GaN-based AESA prototype Patriot array using GaN manufactured in Raytheon’s Department of Defense-certified Manufacturing Readiness Level 8 foundry. Raytheon’s GaN foundery 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 has been leading the innovation and development of GaN for 15 years and has invested more than $150 million to get this latest technology in the hands of the warfighter faster and at lower cost and risk. Raytheon 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.
Patriot is the world’s most modern and capable air and missile defense system, providing protection against a full range of advanced threats, including aircraft, tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles. Continually upgraded and enhanced to reflect the latest technology, Patriot is the system of choice for 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.
