The U.S. Army is tapping Raytheon to supply its soldiers with radars that will help protect them from airborne attacks. The contract will see Raytheon deliver 50 Enhanced Sentinel A3 radars to the Army by the end of 2022. Raytheon also won a $29-million contract to provide support for the radars over their life cycle.
The mobile ground-based radars are designed to counter enemy aircraft and missiles from forward troop positions. The Sentinel is a 3D radar operating in the X-Band frequency that automatically detects, tracks, identifies and reports a variety of airborne threats including helicopters, jets, cruise missiles and drones—giving troops an early warning capability. It also includes an integrated friend-or-foe recognition capability that helps prevent friendly fire mishaps. It can track and prioritize more than 50 targets simultaneously, with 360 degrees of coverage, and is almost impervious to electronic countermeasures. It has a range of 47 miles—several times that of short-range weapons.
The Sentinel doesn’t only identify and warn troops, though. It can also operate with weapon systems such as Hawk, AMRAAM and Stinger missiles, as well as anti-aircraft weapons and other short-range defensive armaments to improve their aim and effectiveness.
The U.S. isn’t the only military to deploy the Sentinel. Turkey, Egypt, Mexico, Romania, the United Arab Emirates, Finland and Chile also use the technology to support their armies.
The Sentinel contracts are only the latest wins for the company’s growing portfolio. The company is expanding its manufacturing center in Mississippi—and recently added a state-of-the-art production facility in Massachusetts—to build radars for the Navy. It has beaten out a couple of incumbents for contracts with the U.S. military. And don’t forget its most famous product: the Patriot air and missile defense system. On top of that, Raytheon also supplies the networks and software needed to operate those systems and integrate them with other weapons systems.
Finally, if the U.S. does pursue a new missile defense system, Raytheon stands to benefit greatly. “Defense contractor Raytheon seems to be involved in every missile defense program that matters,” states a recent Forbes article. “Every one of the company’s major business units is engaged in multiple facets of the missile defense challenge.”
Raytheon is aggressively expanding its footprint in the military and defense sector, and the Sentinel contracts indicate the company is poised to rake in more lucrative work for military customers.
Read more about Raytheon’s expanding operations at Raytheon Builds New State-of-the-Art Radar Production Factory.