Raytheon to upgrade South Korea's Patriot system

South Korea has awarded Raytheon a contract to upgrade an undisclosed number of its Patriot air and missile defence system batteries to the latest configuration, the company announced on 30 March.

The upgrades under the $769.4 million direct commercial sale contract include an open architecture so that the system can operate on various networks. They also include the Modern Man Station operator interface, which features touch screen technology and colour graphical displays.

Raytheon will also upgrade South Korea's Patriot systems with a radar digital processor for improved target detection and identification, surveillance and support of the PAC-3 MSE missile.

Dan Crowley, president, Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, said: 'The upgrade enhances the Republic of Korea's defences and underscores the value of the 13-nation strong Patriot partnership which funded development of the modernisation.

'The Republic of Korea's procurement is also an economic growth engine which will bring good jobs to Korea and preserve jobs in the US, which would have gone overseas if a foreign system was selected.'

South Korea awarded a $160 million contract to Raytheon in late 2014 to upgrade its missiles to the GEM-T configuration.

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