Raytheon has received $71.7 million in contracts from the U.S. Army to upgrade the Patriot Air and Missile Defense System with the modernized Radar Digital Processor (RDP) and Modern Man Station (MMS). The increased processing power of the RDP improves the radar's reliability by 40 percent.

The greater situational awareness with the new MMS increases safety and allows soldiers in the field to better defend against evolving threats. The contracts were awarded in Raytheon's second and third quarters of 2013.

"These major enhancements to the Radar Digital Processor pave the way for improved target detection and identification, multifunction surveillance and the full support of advanced PAC-3 missile enhancements through software upgrades," said Ralph Acaba, vice president of Integrated Air and Missile Defense at Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) business.

"The new Modern Man Station with color LCD displays, touch screens and soft keys will give soldiers the ability to more quickly identify threats, assess the situation and make decisions."

Both RDP and MMS are supported by the new Patriot PDB-7 software release that Raytheon announced in June -- and were developed under the Patriot International Engineering Services Program (IESP).

All 12 Patriot partners are members of the IESP and actively participate in prioritizing the enhancements needed to keep the Patriot system ahead of evolving threats.

The funding from Patriot partners provides for a significant portion of the shared or common elements of the program as well as the activities associated with country-specific issues or requirements.