The US Army has picked Raytheon to continue development of an aerostat based system designed to spot low flying cruise missiles. The joint venture has won an initial $12 million for the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System demonstration.
The Raytheon team (originally a joint venture with Hughes Aircraft before it was recently acquired by Raytheon) beat Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin.
The idea is to provide the US Army and Navy with elevated sensor platforms capable of pinpointing enemy cruise missiles for attack. Initial work included trade studies and development of preliminary designs for a family of aerostat based sensor systems. In the next phase, Raytheon will design the short range aerostat system and conduct risk mitigation efforts. It must also provide the US Army with a system that can be deployed for user evaluation and contingency events. The sensor is believed to be a very large aperture, high power surveillance radar developed by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency.
Source: Flight International
