Raytheon Missiles & Defense has signed agreements with Romanian state-owned military equipment supplier Romarm and its subsidiary Electromecanica Ploiesti to produce SkyCeptor interceptor missiles for Patriot air defense systems in the Eastern European country. SkyCeptor, combined with the Patriot family of systems and other U.S battle management and command/control solutions offer excellent performance. The government of Romania signed on November 29, 2017, an agreement to purchase seven Patriot Configuration 3 units, complete with radars, a control station, antennas, launching stations, and power plants. Romania is the 14th Patriot customer worldwide to receive one.
Defeating Current & Emerging Threats Raytheon and RAFAEL, two world leaders in advanced weapon system development, offer SkyCeptor as a lethal, flexible and affordable hit-to-kill interceptor to defeat mass raids of threats. SkyCeptor intercepts tactical ballistic missiles and large caliber rockets at keep-out altitudes that minimize collateral damage from debris. Its high energy three-pulse propulsion and agile steering allow for optimal intercept engagements along threat trajectories. It enables real-time retargeting in flight, and greatly extends the battle space of current air and missile defense systems.
SkyCeptor is an advanced multimission interceptor designed for “plug-and-play” insertion into the Patriot Family or other fielded air and missile defense systems. Integrated easily into a variety of engagement scenarios. SkyCeptor’s compatibility with established canister and rail launchers offers maximum operational and deployment flexibility. SkyCeptor’s concept of-operation requires minimal cueing from sensor resources to ensure optimum rate of fire – even during saturation attacks. SkyCeptor’s modern design inherently fits the future net-centric command
and control architectures.
The MIM-104 Patriot is a surface-to-air missile (SAM) system, the primary of its kind used by the United States Army and several allied nations. It is manufactured by the U.S. defence contractor Raytheon and derives its name from the radar component of the weapon system. The AN/MPQ-53 at the heart of the system is known as the “Phased Array Tracking Radar to Intercept on Target” which is a backronym for PATRIOT. Patriot has been given the function of the U.S. Army’s anti-ballistic missile (ABM) system, which is now Patriot’s primary mission. The system is expected to stay fielded until at least 2040.
