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Industrial Partnerships Key To Patriot Modernization

By Joseph “Skip” Garrett III

Patriot Missile Launcher

The fundamental question that must be answered when considering the procurement of any defense system is this: What will keep a nation’s people and property safe and secure?

That will never change. However, the world in which nations seek the answer to that question has changed. Regardless of whether one is speaking technologically, geopolitically, or economically, the complexity level has risen, and the fact that those three domains are now inextricably connected compounds the degree of the challenge.

Consequently, in addition to the “people and property” question that will continue to top the list, two additional questions must now be addressed when considering such a procurement: Will the system under consideration be an affordable investment over the long term? Will it strengthen our industry?

The recent resurgence of the Patriot Air and Missile Defense System clearly addresses these key questions.

Since Patriot burst onto the world stage during Operation Desert Storm in 1990, it has undergone multiple technology upgrades. Consider:

  • In 2006, the US Army made the decision to upgrade its entire Patriot inventory to Configuration-3, thereby creating a “Patriot Pure Fleet” comprising 13 battalions.
    In 2007, the Army increased its Patriot investment further, adding two new Patriot battalions and bringing the Pure Fleet total to 15 battalions.
  • These were such clear statements of the depth of the US Government’s commitment to Patriot that, in 2008, the United Arab Emirates placed a $3.3B order for ground-up Patriot Configuration-3 fire units.
  • All of this activity has not passed unnoticed by other Patriot partners, several of whom are now planning to upgrade their Patriot systems to Configuration-3 and/or add fire units.
  • With costs spread over a growing Patriot base, redesigns to eliminate parts obsolescence issues have become more affordable, thereby adding decades to the viability of Patriot. For example, recent Patriot awards have covered most of the development costs for three new capabilities—the Radar Digital Processor (RDP), the Modern Adjunct Processor (MAP), and the Modern Man Stations (MMS)—which will be included in new-production systems and can be back-fitted into systems owned by our current Patriot partners at or near cost.

Patriot Poised To Meet Evolving Needs

The roster of Patriot partners now numbers twelve: five NATO nations, four from the Middle East, and three from the Asia/Pacific region. In the process of producing, delivering, and supporting Patriot in such widely varying circumstances, we have learned invaluable lessons that have enabled us to be flexible and innovative in providing high-value solutions that meet our partners’ needs across all three dimensions: military, economic, and industrial.

IN GERMANY

Germany currently finds itself at a strategic crossroads. This long-time Patriot partner is co-developing the Medium Extended Air Defense (MEADS) system with the United States and Italy, a program-of-record that currently finds itself running considerably over cost, with the low end of overage estimates now in the $1B range.

There have been schedule issues with MEADS as well. Had the original plan been achieved, MEADS would currently be operational in the field. However, even the most optimistic current estimates now call for initial fielding to be at least seven years out into the future.

There are important economic factors at work as well. Given the support for Greek financial crisis; the additional funding required for A400M; and the desire to rein in German debt, the ability for Germany to save billions of dollars by upgrading a portion of their existing fire units—savings made possible by a solution based on upgraded state-of-the-art technologies resulting from recent Patriot sales—becomes even more important and attractive.

Another reason for the attractiveness of a Patriot alternative to MEADS is the long-term market opportunity for German industry, supported by a Raytheon presence in Germany that numbers more than 800 employees and $200M in annual sales. A Patriot-based solution:

  • Builds on current investments (including MEADS investments) by integrating new technology end items as they become available, such as the LFK-MBDA launching system and the IRIS-T-SLM complementary missile system, and new sensors such as TRML-3D radar and/or others as desired.
  • Preserves work share and jobs by executing the upgrades via our German Patriot partner company LFK-MBDA and COMLOG joint venture, and by including significant end items from companies like Diehl-BGT-Defense and EADS.
  • Gives access to worldwide markets by adding further work and jobs through increased sales from German companies to Patriot’s global and growing customer base.

IN TURKEY

Turkey is another example of a country looking to meet its air and missile defense requirements while simultaneously growing its industry and spurring its economy.

The Patriot Industrial Participation and Offset proposal for the T-LORAMIDS program offers Turkey a unique opportunity to achieve these goals. Moving far beyond Turkey’s 50% “offset” requirement, Raytheon’s Patriot proposal presents Turkey with the potential to become a global exporter, creating a wide variety of high-value jobs and generating work for small- and medium-size businesses.

The transfer of defense production technology to Turkey is another important aspect of industrial partnering. With U.S. government approvals, more than 80% of manufacturing, assembly, test and systems integration technology—which are part of co-production work packages—would be shared with Turkey.

In addition, the company has proposed to partner with Turkish Industry, SSM, and the Turkish Air Force to co-develop, co-produce, and collaboratively integrate technology projects that are required for the integration of current and future radars, weapon systems, and air and missile defense command and control systems.

Finally, such an arrangement will enable Turkey to advance its capabilities in research, engineering, development, and manufacturing.

IN INDIA

If there were any doubts about the need for sophisticated solutions to address both existing and evolving threats, the events of November 24, 2008 in Mumbai put them to rest.

Air and missile threats to military installations and forces as well as to public infrastructure are increasing, evolving, and becoming more sophisticated. Ballistic and cruise missiles are a growing, critical threat, especially when used to deliver nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons of mass destruction. Air breathing targets—fixed- and rotary-wing—are also providing a growing challenge due to the proliferation of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned combat vehicles (UCVs), which can be controlled from thousands of miles away.

Patriot Radar

Countering the full threat spectrum—both as it exists today and as it evolves tomorrow—calls for layered defense, a common operating picture, early threat detection, classification, and identification, and 360 degrees of coverage. Raytheon’s Surface to Air Missile Defense systems can serve as the backbone of the kind of interoperable, flexible, integrated air and missile defense structure that can provide these capabilities, thereby supporting the kind of joint operations required to defend India, its people, and its infrastructure.

Increasing Partners’ Strength: Militarily, Economically, And Industrially

The process of procuring defense systems has become correspondingly more complex, calling for the need to satisfy requirements across multiple dimensions. As a result of the resurgence of Patriot, a number of important benefits accrue for current and future Patriot partners such as Germany, Turkey, and others, providing expanded opportunities to meet those ever-more-demanding sets of requirements.

Militarily: First and foremost, more than $4B in multiple technology upgrades and enhancements have resulted in Patriot featuring state-of-the-art hardware, significantly improved performance and reliability, and reduced operational costs. Moreover, the latest production upgrades will result in a much smaller footprint internally, thereby leaving additional capacity to develop future defenses against globally proliferating air and missile threats.

Economically: Recent Patriot sales have re-opened production lines for newly designed Patriot systems, eliminating the need for costly production stops and re-starts, thereby lowering the system price.

Industrially: Invaluable insights gained from experience with 12 global Patriot partners have enabled creative industrial participation and offset strategies that meet—and often exceed—a partner’s expectations.

Make no mistake, our first obligation is and always will be to ensure that the combat-proven Patriot system continues to represent the best available answer to the air and missile defense challenges facing current and future Patriot partners. But without the capability to actually build and maintain the system, technology is just an abstraction on a white board or a computer screen. That’s why building global partnerships will continue to be central to the resurgence of Patriot, which in turn will be central to improving the ongoing strength—military, economic, and industrial—of the entire Patriot community.

Joseph (Skip) G. Garrett III is vice president and deputy of Patriot Programs at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems (IDS). In this role, he is responsible for a wide range of IDS domestic and international Patriot programs and initiatives. Prior to joining Raytheon in February 2001, Garrett had a distinguished 32-year career in the U.S. Army, retiring with the rank of major general. His last assignment before retirement was principal director of European and NATO policy in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. During combat operations in Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he commanded the Patriot missile units of the 11th Air Defense Artillery Brigade in Saudi Arabia.