Operational with 12 nations, of which five are NATO members, Raytheon’s Patriot air defense system is pursuing three key campaigns in Europe as part of a global resurgence in interest in the system. That trend has already resulted in Qatar signing a letter of acceptance for Patriot this week. With the U.S. Army committed to Patriot through 2048, Raytheon is working on a new-generation Patriot and other developments to maintain the system’s viability in the face of emerging and future threats.
In Europe, Patriot is being targeted at requirements in Germany, Poland and Turkey. Earlier this month the system was down-selected from a field of four to answer Poland’s Wisła medium-range air defense requirement (see box). With the Rafael David’s Sling and Lockheed Martin/MBDA Meads now out of the picture, Patriot is competing with the Eurosam SAMP/T for the requirement. A decision is expected in the coming weeks, perhaps around the end of August.
Among the avenues that Raytheon is exploring is a “composable” command and control (C2) system, and this has particular relevance to countries that are looking for common C2 for various missile types, such as Poland. Industrial participation is invited in the development of such systems, providing Poland or other nations with an avenue for a stake in the workshare. As it is, Patriot development costs are shared on a pro-rated basis among the user nations, with each nation receiving software upgrades as they become available.
German Need
Germany is another country that has a requirement for medium-range air defense. The nation already operates the Patriot, and Raytheon is proposing the upgrade of the system with modern digital systems and new interceptors. Competition comes in the form of the Meads, which is currently a development-only program in which Germany has a stake through MBDA Deutschland.
Selection of Patriot would allow Germany to leverage some of the development work already performed on Meads, such as the Lockheed Martin PAC-3 MSE missile that can also be fired by Patriot fire units. Germany was also working on integrating vertical launch Iris-T missiles with Meads, and much of that work is also applicable to a Patriot solution. A review of German requirements is currently under way, with a conclusion expected to be reached around the end of the year.
Raytheon’s proposal to supply Patriot to Turkey remains an active bid, despite Turkey having made a surprise announcement regarding the selection of a Chinese system for its missile requirements. However, there has been growing pressure from allies that Turkey should acquire a NATO-interoperable system, and increasing anxiety within Turkey about this decision. The other bidders have been asked to extend their proposals until August 30. The Patriot is again facing the Eurosam SAMP/T in this contest.
Patriot is already operational in Turkey, but not with the local armed forces. Following a request from Ankara, six NATO-controlled batteries were deployed to provide air defense in response to the outbreak of fighting in neighboring Syria. Pairs of batteries were deployed by Dutch, German and U.S. forces.
With the PAC-3 MSE interceptor soon to be fielded on Patriot units, the overall system is undergoing a period of significant development. As well as the composable C2 system mentioned above, Raytheon is developing a new-generation Patriot with 360-degree air defense capability through the use of e-scan radar antennas using the latest GaN (gallium nitride) technology. This would address one of the system’s shortfalls compared with the MEADS program.
