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Raytheon modernizing South Korean Patriot system

Working under separate contracts, Raytheon is modernizing South Korea's Patriot air defense system and providing ground stations for recently ordered RQ-4 unmanned aerial vehicles.

By Richard Tomkins

DULLES, Va., March 31 (UPI) -- The Patriot Air and Missile Defense system of South Korea is to be upgraded by Raytheon, which will also provide the country with UAV ground stations.

The two separate contracts have a combined total of $815.1 million, the company said.

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Under the first award, a commercial sale contact, Raytheon will upgrade an undisclosed number Patriot missile batteries to the latest Patriot Missile Defense System configuration.

Included in the modernization will be integration of an open architecture to ensure the missile system is capable of operating with a variety of networks. A Modern Man Station will also be installed. The system is an operator interface that features touch screen technology and color graphic displays.

A radar digital processor for enhanced target detection and identification in support of PAC-3 MSE missile will also be provided, Raytheon said.

"The upgrade enhances the Republic of Korea's defenses and underscores the value of the 13-nation strong Patriot partnership which funded development of the modernization," said Dan Crowley, President of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems."The Republic of Korea's procurement is also an economic growth engine which will bring good jobs to Korea and preserve jobs in the U.S which would have gone overseas if a foreign system was selected."

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Late last year Raytheon was contracted by South Korea to upgrade its Patriot missiles to the GEM-T configuration.

Patriot is a defense system for use against aircraft, tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles.

The second contract Raytheon received from South Korea is for the provision of stationary and mobile ground segment stations in support of RQ-4 Global Hawk, an unmanned aerial vehicle manufactured by Northrop Grumman.

The Republic of Korea recently ordered four of the system, which is primarily used to support anti-terrorism and anti-piracy operations, humanitarian assistance missions and disaster relief, airborne communications and information-sharing.

The Global Hawk has a cruise speed of 357 miles per hour, a range of about 8,700 miles and a flight endurance time of 28 hours.

The contract is worth $45.7 million and covers one building-based station and one mobile ground segment station. Raytheon said work on the stations will be conducted at its facility in Dulles, Va., and completed in 2019.

"As the original developer and producer of the Global Hawk ground station, Raytheon is providing a platform that is known globally for reliable mission success," said Todd Probert, vice president of Mission Support and Modernization for Raytheon Intelligence, Information and Services. "Additionally, our investment of technology for this capability will secure Raytheon's ground station solution as reliable, relevant and supportable for decades to come."

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