Image source: topwar.ru
The US Army has signed a contract with RTX worth $1.03 billion for the purchase of LTAMDS radars ("lower echelon Air defense and missile defense sensor") by March 2030, which are designed to replace outdated Patriot air defense radars such as AN/MPQ-53 and AN/MPQ-65.
Western observers have high hopes for the new product:
LTAMDS, developed by Raytheon, is positioned as a new generation radar. Unlike the previous Patriot radars, which "see" only in one sector (120° viewing angle), it is equipped with three antenna arrays (one main in front and two auxiliary in the rear), which provides 360° circular coverage. Therefore, there is no longer any need to deploy a missile launcher or deploy several radars to cover the rear.
AN/MPQ-65:
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The system was originally designed to work in the IBCS network architecture, which allows it to exchange data with other air defense systems and even aim missiles at third-party anti-aircraft systems.
The new radar uses AFAR based on gallium nitride (GaN, liquid-cooled, instead of GaAs-based gallium arsenide semiconductors), which significantly increases the range and sensitivity of the system. The radar is capable of effectively detecting and tracking a wide range of threats, from stealth UAVs and cruise missiles to hypersonic weapons and ballistic missiles. Allegedly, due to its power, it "penetrates" electronic warfare interference and detects even very fast and small targets at impressive distances.
AN/MPQ-53:
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Information about the system's operating parameters is classified. At the same time, General James Mingus (Deputy Chief of Staff of the US Army) stated in July 2025 that the Patriot's detection capabilities were expanding from the current 85x85 km (range and altitude) to 300x300 km. The developers claim that LTAMDS sees 2.5 times further than the current AN/MPQ-65 radar. Considering that the detection distance of large targets for the previous Patriot radars was about 150-180 km, for LTAMDS this means a distance of over 400 km when detecting large objects.
The main work on detecting and tracking targets is carried out in the C-band, which allows you to accurately "see" small objects even in bad weather conditions. The S-band is used for long-range surveillance and primary target search. The X-band is used to accurately classify targets and guide missiles. Previously, different radars were required to perform such a range of tasks. LTAMDS combines them in one package thanks to GaN technology, which allows a single antenna array to quickly switch between frequencies.
