On Thursday, April 16, 2026, the U.S. Army Contracting Command (ACC) at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, acting on behalf of the U.S. Department of Defense, signed a contract worth 904,600,000 USD with Raytheon Missiles & Defense, part of RTX, to continue serial production of LTAMDS (Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor) medium-range radars.
Photo: Jakub Link-Lenczowski, MILMAG
Under the contract, the contractor will deliver five LTAMDS radar sets and six spare parts sets, including new production hardware, software, and production- and documentation-related services for the U.S. Army. This modification increases the total program value to 5,357,669,576 USD.
Work will be performed at Raytheon’s facilities in Andover, Massachusetts, and is expected to be completed by August 29, 2031. At the time of contract award, 725,878,580 USD in U.S. Army weapons procurement funds from the FY2026 defense budget under the NDAA was obligated.
This is the fourth Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) contract. The first contract was signed on July 31, 2024, and was worth 2,089,200,000 USD, including funding for 12 radars for Poland under Phase II of the Wisła program. The second was signed on August 28, 2025, and was worth 1,700,000,000 USD, while the third was signed on January 29, 2026, and was worth 1,025,100,000 USD.
Apart from the United States, which is to receive at least 60 radars and probably 15 more, and Poland, Kuwait recently received approval to purchase eight radars in a package worth up to 8 billion USD. Deliveries have not yet begun, and the U.S. Army is still testing prototypes.
LTAMDS is a fixed three-face radar providing 360-degree coverage and using active electronically scanned array (AESA) antennas based on gallium nitride (GaN) technology. These features enable much more effective protection against a full range of threats, from crewed and uncrewed aircraft to cruise, ballistic, and hypersonic missiles. It is the successor to the sector-scanning AN/MPQ-65 fire control radars used in Patriot batteries. Compared with the AN/MPQ-65 radar, the new system’s antenna is 2,130 mm longer and 280 mm narrower. It does not require side stabilizers, allowing it to take up less space in the cargo hold of a C-17A Globemaster III.