Raytheon to upgrade U.S. ballistic missile defense radars

April 10 (UPI) -- Raytheon received a $10 million contract from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency to upgrade components for the AN/TPY-2 ballistic missile radar.

The company's work will focus on enhancing software and hardware to bolster the radar's detection capabilities, including its gallium nitride semiconductor technology, or GaN. Raytheon says its work will help the system discriminate between threats and non-threats more easily.

"AN/TPY-2 is already the world's most capable land-based, X-band, ballistic missile defense radar," Raytheon's Dave Gulla said in a press release. "Adding GaN technology modernizes the system so it can defeat all classes of ballistic missiles in extreme operational environments."

Raytheon adds the contract puts its product on course to become the world's first transportable, land-based ballistic missile radar system equipped with GaN technology.

The AN/TPY-2 is built to operate in one of two ways. In its forward-based mode, the system is placed near hostile territory to identify ballistic missile threats shortly after they are launched. In its terminal mode, the system is integrated with a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense missile defense system and tracks targets as they descend.