US Army Radar Testing: According to Brig. Gen. Frank Lozano, the service’s programme executive officer for missiles and space, the U.S. Army has started developmental testing of its next missile defence radar in a novel, two-phased method.
The radar of the upcoming Integrated Air and Missile Defence system for the Army will be the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defence Sensor, or LTAMDS. By December 2023, the Army must deploy a four-sensor LTAMDS battalion, per a requirement from Congress.
In 2019, the Army gave Raytheon, an RTX business, a contract to create LTAMDS prototypes. However, due to integration issues and supply chain delays brought on by COVID-19, programme authorities have had to make various revisions during the previous few years in order to comply with congressional requirements.
US Army Radar Testing: US Army splits testing phase of future missile defense radar
In an interview with Defence News during the Space and Missile Defence Symposium held here, Lozano stated that the Army has since achieved advancements with the LTAMDS programme. The service finished contractor verification testing a few weeks ago after receiving the six necessary prototypes from Raytheon, he said, adding, “That went very well.” Six of the systems are still with Raytheon at its testing centre in Andover, Massachusetts, while five are at White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico.
The service has officially started its developmental testing, although Lozano said it will happen in two stages. The three arrays on the LTAMDS radar—one main and two in the back—allow it to detect threats from all directions. “We realised that trying to do all 360 degrees of tracking was too much to take on at once,” he added. “Last year, when I first came on board, through some system engineering reviews, we realised that trying to do all 360 degrees of tracking was too much to take on at once.”
As a result, the primary array will be the subject of testing during the first year, and testing of the entire sector capability, including the back two arrays, will begin in 2024.
Future Scopes
By December 2023, the Army will deliver the first four LTAMDS prototypes to the formation designated as the “first unit equipped” with primary sector capability in order to satisfy congressional criteria, according to Lozano. This action will give “residual combat capability” that already “exceeds legacy radar capability,” the speaker claimed.
The Army will perform an operational evaluation in the first quarter of FY25 following the conclusion of the second phase of developmental testing. This evaluation will result in an engineering and manufacturing development decision in FY25, which is the first step towards eventual serial production.
For the defence of Guam, the Army must additionally field three more LTAMDS. According to Doug Bush, the Army’s acquisition commander, the military aims to purchase five systems in total to meet the Guam demand; the other two will serve as test assets.
