Breaking Defense:

Raytheon will soon deliver the Army’s first “production readiness” model of the new LTAMDS radar, in time for key tests this summer. By next September (2022), the first six early-model LTAMDS should have passed initial Army testing. That will allow the Lower-Tier Air & Missile Defense Sensor, to use its formal name, to be approved for “Urgent Materiel Release” to Army missile defense units.

If Raytheon makes that deadline, it’ll have gone from initial contract award – in Oct. 2019 – to operational fielding in less than three years. That’s a remarkable pace for the Pentagon, made possible in large part by using the streamlined Other Transaction Authority process instead of traditional contracting regulations.

Now, the initial contract only covers six radars, all technically “production readiness” models rather than the final version. Raytheon is in fact still tweaking the design, based on soldier feedback on the prototype. They’re even redesigning the handles on access doors so they’re less likely to poke someone in the eye…

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