DefenseNews:
WASHINGTON — The Army is nearing completion of an acquisition strategy to achieve a 360-degree threat detection capability for its future Integrated Air-and-Missile Defense system, according to the deputy program executive officer for Army Missiles and Space.
The service has long wrestled with when and how it will replace its current air-and-missile defense system — Raytheon’s Patriot — first fielded in 1982. And, at one point, planned to procure the Lockheed Martin-made Medium Extended Air Defense System as the chosen replacement. But the Army canceled its plans to acquire the system.
The Army’s request for information released in July 2016 revealed it was still trying to figure out a way forward, at least when it comes to the radar that would detect incoming threats as part of the future integrated system. The RFI indicates the Army has yet to decide whether it would procure a new radar or upgrade the current Patriot radar.
That decision is around the corner, Col. Rob Rasch told Defense News at an Association of the United States Army event on missile defense in Arlington, Virginia, on Tuesday. Rasch said the Army has analyzed information provided by industry.
Both Raytheon and Lockheed Martin swiftly submitted responses to the RFI last summer. The service has also conducted a number of industry visits not only to collect data from them, but to look at technologies as well as manufacturing capabilities and capacities, he said. “The team is in the final stages of rolling that up now to develop an acquisition strategy to carry back for approval with Army senior leaders,” Rasch said.
