An undisclosed member of the 14-nation group that own the combat-proven Patriot Integrated Air and Missile Defense System has awarded Raytheon Company a direct commercial sales contract worth more than $1.5 billion for additional capability. The contract was awarded on Jan 4, 2018.

Raytheon's Patriot^™ is a missile defense system consisting of radars, command-and-control technology and multiple types of interceptors, all working together to detect, identify and defeat tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, drones, advanced aircraft and other threats.

Since it was first fielded, Raytheon’s Patriot has been used by five nations in more than 200 combat engagements against manned and unmanned aircraft, cruise missiles, and tactical ballistic missiles. Since January of 2015, Patriot has intercepted more than 100 ballistic missiles in combat operations around the world; more than 90 of those intercepts involved the low-cost Raytheon-made Guidance Enhanced Missile family of surface-to-air missiles.

Those engagements were possible because Patriot is built on a foundation of more than 3,000 ground tests and over 1,400 flight tests.

Each and every time Patriot is tested or live fired, engineers uncover new ways to further improve or enhance the system.  The improvements are necessary because the threat is constantly changing and becoming more sophisticated. 

The result of the improvements and enhancements is that today’s Patriot is advanced, modern, and capable of defeating the full spectrum of threats.  It shares the same name and basic purpose of the Patriot of the past, but that is where the similarity ends.

Patriot has continually embraced new technologies to stay ahead of evolving threats.  As a result, with a few small exceptions, such as heaters and cooling fans, the bulk of the system has been modernized over the past 17 years.

This is possible because Patriot’s architecture is flexible and designed in a manner that allows it to be continually upgraded and improved. 

This on-going modernization is funded by members of the Patriot partnership – a 14-nation consortium of Patriot users which has invested significantly in improvements, enhancements and upgrades over the past 20 years.

Raytheon has built more than 220 Patriot fire units and delivered them to customers in 14 nations. Many of those countries have chosen to take advantage of Patriot’s flexible architecture and upgrade their systems. 

That translates into global interoperability. Countries with Patriot can -- and do -- train together.  And if need be, they can operate together in combat. 

Global Patriot has a defined growth path that will ensure the system continues outpacing the threat through 2048 and beyond.  Recently, Raytheon unveiled a prototype radar that incorporates gallium nitride, a revolutionary semi-conductor technology that will enable 360-degrees of protection.

With 2016 sales of $24 billion and 63,000 employees, Raytheon Company is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity solutions.

With a history of innovation spanning 95 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration, C5I™ products and services, sensing, effects, and mission support for customers in more than 80 countries. 

Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA.