Raytheon Expects Slew of Orders For Upgraded Patriot Missile System

Raytheon Company is expecting to receive new orders for its Upgraded Patriot air and missile defense systems in the second half of the year, company officials said.

Raytheon is hoping for an order from Qatar for 11 fire units valued at around $2 billion. Also, an order exceeding $500 million from Kuwait that could expand further in coming years through related contracts for modernization, spares and services, according to Reuters.

Turkey is also in the loop for a large order that would be worth around $500 million initially, but could expand later.

Poland has plans to buy equipment from Germany which is to be upgraded by Raytheon, Tim Glaeser, a vice president with Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) division was quoted as saying.

The company says more than $400 million has been invested from past four years in upgrading the Patriot system.

From the year 2008, the Patriot system has undergone Guidance-Enhanced Missile – Tactical, or GEM-T upgrade (PAC-2); a track-via-missile (TVM) guidance system to the latest Patriot advanced capability (PAC-3) missile.

The new missile guidance system enables target destruction through the kinetic energy released by hitting the target head-on. Sixteen PAC-3 missiles can be loaded on a launcher, compared to four PAC-2 missiles.

In January 2013, a $755m contract for 168 PAC-3 missiles, 27 launcher modification kits and related equipment and services was placed by the U.S. Army. Deliveries are scheduled to commence in the year 2014.