It is an interesting direction for IBCS's export customers like Poland who are looking to also field a complementary short range system. With G/ATOR and CAMM IBCS integration possible or being explored it does give competition to the likes of NASAMS and Spyder or Iron-Dome, particularly if they can demonstrate the ability to rapidly integrate indigenous C2 and sensors.
 
Lower Tier Future Interceptor Program - New start for FY20 -

The Lower Tier Future Interceptor program will provide improved operational effectiveness against evolving air and missile defense threats within the lower tier portion of the ballistic missile defense battlespace. The future interceptor will increase Air and Missile Defense (AMD) capability through increased velocity, altitude and maneuverability. The acquisition program will competitively select a future interceptor to complement existing Air and Missile Defense (AMD) capabilities to overmatch evolving threat.
 

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Original LTAMDS program fades, focus now: 'Sense-Off' top-10 capabilities


The Army has formalized plans with Raytheon and Lockheed Martin to wind down by September the original Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) program of record, a key part of the service's pivot toward a new approach to accelerate the fielding of a Patriot radar replacement by 2022 through a “Sense-Off” competition beginning in May.

On March 12, just as the Pentagon was unveiling its fiscal year 2020 budget request, the Army executed contracts with Raytheon and Lockheed Martin that effectively extend LTAMDS concept development deals first awarded in 2017. This marks a dramatic narrowing of the scope of the LTAMDS program of record from expectations set in late September, when the two companies were selected by the Army to proceed from the concept-development phase to what was expected to be a technology-maturation and risk-reduction phase.

A representative from one of the companies said there was no expectation the Army would extend the contract after the end of the current fiscal year. “That program is likely to sunset here at some point,” the person said.

In late 2017, the Army awarded four companies -- Raytheon, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Technovative Applications -- concept-development contracts to perform risk-reduction work on the planned LTAMDS sensor.

Last September, the Army selected only two companies to proceed into the TMRR phase of the program -- Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. That program of record was accompanied by a schedule that assumed initial operational capability in 2027, a date that did not sit well with Congress. Lawmakers adopted a provision in the Fiscal Year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act to fence half of LTAMDS funding if the Army advances an acquisition strategy for a new 360-degree sensor system that proposes a target date for initial operational fielding after Dec. 31, 2023.

In late October, to the surprise of many in industry, the Army unveiled plans for a “Sense-Off” event in May and June of 2019 that charted a course to initial fielding of an LTAMDS capability by 2022, a development that effectively opened the program again to competition and led many to believe the service would proceed with two, parallel LTAMDS efforts.

The combination of the recent LTAMDS contract options with the two defense contractors and the FY-20 budget request make clear the “Sense Off” is now the dominant focus of the service's new radar acquisition effort.

The service is seeking $427 million for LTAMDS in FY-20, an increase of 240 percent compared to the FY-19 forecast of $125 million the service would seek in FY-20 for the new sensor.

On April 22, Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are required to deliver their respective LTAMDS candidate radars to White Sands Missile Range, NM, in preparation for each demonstrating their sensor against a series of targets in May and June.

The Army, according to a little-noticed briefing slide made public in January, has ranked 10 capabilities that it wants in an LTAMDS radar. First is the ability to defend against tactical ballistic missiles; second is defense against anti-radiation missions and anti-surface missiles; third is non-tactical ballistic missile defense; fourth is “full-sectored” defense; fifth is electronic protection; sixth is “kill assessment/interceptor” support; seventh is operations and sustainment; eighth is training; ninth is emplacement accuracy; and 10th is “mass attack."
 
Army launches new-start Lower Tier Future Interceptor program


The Army wants to launch a new-start Future Interceptor program in fiscal year 2020, a milestone development for the service's lower-tier missile enterprise that envisions a possible follow-on to the Patriot missile, setting the stage for a major competition to provide a new air-and-missile-defense interceptor.

The service's FY-20 budget request includes $8 million for a new-start Lower Tier Future Interceptor program that the Army says will "complement" existing air and missile defense capabilities. The Army budget request forecasts $232 million in research and development funding through FY-24 to advance the new program.

"The Lower-Tier Future Interceptor program will provide improved operational effectiveness against evolving air and missile threats within the lower-tier portion of the ballistic missile defense battlespace," the Army budget documents state.

"The future interceptor will increase Air and Missile Defense capability through increased velocity, altitude, and maneuverability. The acquisition program will competitively select a future interceptor to complement existing Air and Missile Defense capabilities to overmatch evolving threat [sic]," according to the budget.

The Army plans in FY-20 to develop an analysis of alternatives and begin working "on the competitive concept developments" using other transaction authorities, the service's research, development, test and evaluation budget justification document states.

"To provide improved operational effectiveness, the Army will use the Defense Ordnance Technology Consortium OTA to execute a competitive initial concept development (CD) with multiple contractors," the budget document reads.

"From the CD phase, rapid prototype development approaches will utilize detailed modeling and simulation of the future interceptor as well as conduct prototype development of high-risk hardware technologies," the document adds. "The prototype technologies and detailed simulation-based interceptor design will be used to competitively down-select to a single vendor."

While beginning the analysis of alternatives in early 2020 the Army plans, in tandem, to award industry the concept development contracts. These two efforts will then inform work on a capabilities development document that will commence in early 2021.

The service plans a competitive solicitation for the Future Interceptor in March 2022 with contract awards in March 2023, according to the budget request.
 
A Huntsville company getting ready for the big “Sense Off”


HUNTSVILLE, Ala. -- The Patriot surface to air defense missile system earned its early fame in the Gulf War. The latest and best version of the Patriot is the PAC-3, and it is a life saver. It does, however, need a great radar to sense the incoming targets that it will shoot down. That radar is about to get a major upgrade.

"There's going to be a Sense Off," said Bob Kelly, Raytheon’s director for integrated air and missile defense in the company’s Integrated Defense Systems division.

Kelly had a lot to say about the upcoming Sense Off at the recent AUSA Global Force Symposium in Huntsville. The competition at the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico was the Army's idea. "They basically said, 'okay industry, you say you are ready to do this, bring your stuff to White Sands Missile Range and prove it,' and that's what we hope to do," said Kelly.

All the competitors to build the radar will get the chance to prove their sensors are the best, and it is not going to be easy. "These are very hard requirements to meet. This is going to be the world's best land-based radar," said Kelly.

It's a ready to make the PAC-3 even more effective. For instance, where the current radar might have one beam, the new radar will have thousands. It will see a lot more of the sky. "And it's going to be able to increase the defended area that air and defense forces have on the battlefield today...significantly," said Bob Kelly.

Soldiers will no doubt appreciate a little more safety when they're in harm's way. They might also like the idea that a competition will pick the winner that will be the new radar. Even the companies that are competing understand this is a great way to choose such an important system. "I'm sure that every industry competitor out there is going to bring a better radar than they ever thought they could, because of the competitive nature of what we're trying to do," said Bob Kelly.

Raytheon is joined in the effort by four Huntsville companies, IERUS Technologies, Kord Technologies, Cummings Aerospace, and nLogic. The Sense Off is scheduled for about a month from now.
 
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Army fielding new ALPS to detect cruise missiles, aircraft, UAS


he Army has begun deploying a new prototype Long-Range Persistent Surveillance passive sensor developed to meet urgent needs from commanders in Europe, the Pacific and U.S. Central Command, launching a two-year campaign to provide improved capability to detect enemy cruise missiles, aircraft as well as unmanned aircraft systems.

Lt. Gen. James Dickinson, head of Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command, revealed the modernization project -- launched two years ago in response to a request from U.S. European Command -- in April 3 testimony prepared for the Senate Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee....

ALPS can be configured to meet a particular user's needs, according to the Army. The most common configuration, according to the service, is a transportable, 100-foot trailed tower and a conex-based processing shelter.

Dynetics spokeswoman Kristina Hendrix confirmed today the company is building ALPS, but referred other questions about the sensor to the Army.

Dynetics will install and maintain the ALPS prototype systems, according to Monks.

“ALPS is currently supporting multiple urgent requirements from various combatant commanders,” according to Monks.
 
So is it a mast mounted IRST? Or a receiving element in some type of passive/bi-static radar system?
 

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So is it a mast mounted IRST? Or a receiving element in some type of passive/bi-static radar system?

I think the number of references to "Long Range" would lead me to the latter while the reference to a persistent capability could also point to an IR based staring sensor though it would be tough to imagine such a system to be able to detect these things at long range in all weather conditions.

Also, hasn't Dynetics been prototyping passive RF capability (PCL etc) for quite a while now?
 
“Adversaries have demonstrated rapid advances in range and overall missile performance,” said Lt Gen Dickinson. “To meet the demands resulting from the shift to great power competition, we continue to pursue increased capacity within the missile defence area. Russia and China have achieved parity with the US in many cases, and overmatch in others.”
The ALPS’s database reportedly has the capacity to store about 700 different types of targets including Russian cruise missiles used in the Syria conflict, according to media sources.

https://www.janes.com/article/87897/pentagon-confirms-deployment-of-new-passive-sensor
 
IT’S BRAND-SPANKING NEW


As the world becomes more complex, the need is arising for a new radar. “You can’t just update or redesign an already fielded radar,” said Doug Burgess, program director for Raytheon’s LTAMDS solution. “You really need something brand new if you want to defeat what’s coming down the pike."

That’s why Burgess and his team took a clean-sheet approach to Raytheon’s LTAMDS proposal.

“We started with two thoughts: What does the Army want, and what is the threat? And then we built a new radar around that,” he said.
 
1280px-Lancering-patriot-pac-ii.jpg


A House panel wants the Army to prepare options for a "low-cost" generic interceptor that can operate as part of the Patriot surface-to-air missile system, a move that comes as the price tag for the newest variant of the Patriot interceptor approaches $1 million and lawmakers are seeking options to bolster inventories and foreign buyers are asking for less expensive options.

 
Israel's Stunner would be a good choice.

Or, develop a booster for an AMRAAM.

Or, AMRAAM-ER
 
Basically the HASC wants a report on the options by the end of 2019.

Here is the specific markup.

Low-Cost Patriot Interceptor

The committee acknowledges that the Patriot Integrated Air and Missile Defense System has long been a key component of U.S. ballistic missile defense. With ballistic missile threats increasing globally, combatant commander global force management requirements for missile defense capacity have consistently been increasing. The committee notes that current unit costs for Patriot missile segment enhancement interceptors is approximately $1.0 million per interceptor. The incorporation of a low-cost interceptor to supplement existing Patriot interceptor variants could assist in increasing U.S. procurement quantities. Further, the committee understands that international partners have requested the Army include such a low-cost interceptor to reduce costs in foreign military sale cases. Therefore, the committee directs the Secretary of the Army to provide a briefing to the House Committee on Armed Services not later than December 31, 2019, on options to incorporate a low-cost interceptor into the Patriot system. The report should include cost, schedule, technical, and operational considerations, in addition to an assessment of potential for foreign military sale.
 
It isn't like the Army hasn't been trying out LCI's but I think this is probably something very narrowly focused on the Stunner given that it has had US funding, is operational along with its launcher, and the DOD/Congress would be intimately familiar with its performance against ballistic and cruise missiles, and projected cost relative to the MSE etc. It should be pretty good if they could keep the cost at or below $1 MM a pop. With the Tamir coming in as an interim SHORAD solution it wouldn't be a bad idea to leverage our own $$ pumped into the Stunner and get some capability out of it at a relatively low cost or risk. Time to work on getting these in service, low(er) risk systems integrated with SHORAD and PATRIOT making room for more funding and risk on the HEL efforts, both within the sub 100 kW space and the laser scaling efforts..

789470001003289640360no.jpg
 
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Raytheon Submits Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor Proposal


Raytheon's LTAMDS solution is a simultaneous 360-degree, Active Electronically Scanned Array radar powered by Raytheon-manufactured Gallium Nitride, a substance that strengthens the radar signal and enhances its sensitivity.

"Our proposal offers the Army a brand-new radar that overmatches the future threat," said Tom Laliberty, Raytheon Vice President of Integrated Air and Missile Defense. "We brought our LTAMDS solution to the U.S. Army's sensor demonstration and validated our ability to meet their 2022 urgent material release date."

Raytheon's LTAMDS offering was demonstrated in an event known as a sense-off, which put Raytheon's LTAMDS solution through a series of challenging scenarios. Raytheon completed its sense-off participation on May 15.

"We created a new radar because a redesigned, modified or upgraded radar simply can't defeat the type of advanced threats the U.S. Army will face," said Doug Burgess, Raytheon's LTAMDS program director. "Our solution is proof that the Army can have it all — a capable next generation radar, at an affordable price, fielded as quickly as possible."

Raytheon assembled a team of U.S.-based partners who played a strategic role in Raytheon's proposed LTAMDS solution. They are:

 
Not much longer to go!

I'm kind of hoping Raytheon will get it because they seem to be the ones not offering a rotating radar as opposed to what they call "simultaneous 360° solution" which I'm guessing is 3 different panels.

Army To Pick LTAMDS Winner By September
"This is a radar they're going to buy for, I don't know, 30 years? So you want to make sure you've got new technology that can meet the threats of the future."


SPACE AND MISSILE DEFENSE SYMPOSIUM: The Army will pick a new radar for the Patriot missile by the end of the year, said the three-star chief of Army Space & Missile Defense Command. That follows a “sense off” earlier this summer that pitted the three competitors against each other in a live demonstration, Lt. Gen. James Dickinson told the 2019 Space and Missile Defense Symposium here. Industry representatives in attendance say they are expecting the down-select in September.
The Lower-Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) is one of four top priorities for Army air & missile defense modernization, Daryl Youngman told the conference. He’s deputy director of the Air & Missile Defense Cross-Functional Team (AMD CFT) — one of just eight such high-level task forces in the entire Army. Air and missile defense, in turn, is No. 5 of the Army’s Big Six priorities.
The winning system must provide both an immediate improvement over the current Patriot radar and plenty of room to grow and upgrade for future needs, Youngman said.
If LTAMDS succeeds, it could be bought not just for Patriot batteries, but also for use across the force, Army officials have said. To grow into that wider role, LTAMDS must be capable of plugging into the Army’s new IBCS network, which is intended to let any Army air & missile defense sensor — and some non-Army ones like the F-35 — share real-time data with any weapon.
The Army is particularly focused on countering high-speed cruise missiles.
The LTAMDS program has taken a convoluted path to this point, after a decade of effort. The current program dates to 2016. In 2018, the Army chose two competitors, Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, for a technology maturation risk-reduction (TMRR) phase — but jut two months later (in October ’18) decided to change the acquisition strategy and re-opened competition to include the “sense off.” Three teams chose to compete at that demonstration at White Sands Missile Rase in New Mexico in May and June: both the original awardees, Raytheon and Lockheed Martin — now teamed with Israeli firm Elta — but also a new contender, Northrop Grumman.

Bob Kelley, senior manager at Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, told me on Tuesday that the test consisted of two weeks of “live air tracks and target injections to determine who has the best technology.”
The second aspect of the competition was to show off a model of the radar configuration at initial operating capability, currently set by the Army for 2022. Finally, the companies each had to write a proposal — all of which were submitted last month — with a view to a winner being selected in September.
The program’s moving quickly, Kelley said, a sign of its importance to Army leadership.
Kelley was quick to stress that Raytheon’s bid is not at all based on the original Patriot radar, for which Raytheon was the contractor. “It is a bottoms-up, clean sheet of paper, brand-new solution,” he said. A new approach is essential, he said, because “the requirements that the Army has laid out for this are tough. … They are looking at the most complex threats from our peer competitors.”
Raytheon has invested over $300 million into the radar development, since 2013. With that, Kelley explained, the company has been able to mature its gallium nitride (GaN)radio-frequency chips “to what we believe is the industry leading GaN technology, with very high power, efficiency …we make military-grade GaN.”

Likewise, Northrop Grumman touts is own GaN technology. “Northrop Grumman’s LTAMDS solution leverages significant government and industry investment in proven, fielded programs of record to deliver a 360 degree, full-sector GaN based sensor that is architected to meet the U.S. Army’s urgent requirements while enabling significant capability growth for the future,” Christine Harbison, vice president for land & avionics C4ISR at Northrop Grumman, told Breaking Defense in a statement yesterday.
“Our LTAMDS solution builds upon the company’s decades of expertise in sea, land, air and space-based military radar technology and high-performance microelectronics,” she said. “The company’s offering is the latest Northrop Grumman sensor product to incorporate and use GaN high power density radio frequency components for greater performance. Our solution is ready today to address tomorrow’s threats.”
Paul Lemmo, vice president of integrated warfare systems and sensors at Lockheed Martin, told me here that the company’s offering “is a dual-band system, because we believe that to get at today’s threats and do all the missions that they want to do with [LTAMDS]… a dual-band system is probably the best answer.” He noted that a key part of the design is an Elta radar currently used on the Iron Dome missile defense system — the which Congress ordered the Army to buy two batteries of.
“We really have a very challenging surveillance mission, which we’ve chosen to do it with S-band frequency,” he said. “And you also have a fire-control element, for which X-band is typically the best frequency.”
“This is a radar they’re going to buy for, I don’t know, 30 years?” Lemmo mused. “So you want to make sure you’ve got new technology that can meet the threats of the future.”

Source
 
I'm kind of hoping Raytheon will get it because they seem to be the ones not offering a rotating radar as opposed to what they call "simultaneous 360° solution" which I'm guessing is 3 different panels.

Raytheon's proposal seems to be the only one of the "original" two that survived the sense-off and the subsequent 2022 IOC date. Lockheed was forced to abandon its ARES based dual aperture design in favor of the Elta S-band design with smaller X band panels on the side and back.. So Raytheon is very much a front runner having likely invested the most to get to this point. I am not entirely sure that Lockheed/Elta are offering a rotator or propose the radar to eventually become a rotator down the road. Raytheon will likely present a path to a full 360 system but probably a sectored sensor for the 2022 IOC window. One would imagine that Northrop Grumman's proposal for LTAMDS would not be very much different than what Elta/Lockheed propose as they too are starting off with an S-band sensor and then trying to work their way into C/X band missile communication etc. I feel the primary S-band sensor and its discrrimination compared to C and X band systems will be a major disadvantage for these proposals. While those side C/X panels are great they aren't going to be doing long range detection or discrimination (that's what the primary S-band sensor will be tasked with given the size) so it is a bit of a patched up solution for this role as opposed to a more optimized dual band set up like Lockheed had initially prototyped with its scalable ARES.
 

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Remember an Aviation Week article back in the 80's that had a proposal of a horizontal circular array with a hemispherical array of phase shifters over it. It was a concept that gave full 360 deg. coverage without rotation. Anyone know what happened to that idea? With AESA technology wonder if you could populate a hemispherical array with T/R modules and get full 360 deg. coverage with acceptable range capability and low sidelobes. The math would be complex but if you had enough elements would it work?

In any event Raytheon is holding their designs close to the vest. Have yet to see artwork of their 3DELRR unit.
 
Remember an Aviation Week article back in the 80's that had a proposal of a horizontal circular array with a hemispherical array of phase shifters over it. It was a concept that gave full 360 deg. coverage without rotation. Anyone know what happened to that idea? With AESA technology wonder if you could populate a hemispherical array with T/R modules and get full 360 deg. coverage with acceptable range capability and low sidelobes. The math would be complex but if you had enough elements would it work?

In any event Raytheon is holding their designs close to the vest. Have yet to see artwork of their 3DELRR unit.


I've mainly seen cylindrical phased arrays (like the older CEC arrays. but they've gone planar in the newer versions) or if they
are hemispherical, they are a series of stacked cylinders.

Practical hemispherical arrays require element-level digital beamforming which didn't become affordable for large arrays until recently.
There are some geodesic dome arrays which try to split the difference with triangular panels.
 
Some more images of ALPS.

from the SMD Symposium
 

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PAC3 remote launch/intercept of cruise missile.

https://news.northropgrumman.com/ne...epts-missile-at-long-range-during-flight-test

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Aug. 29, 2019 – The U.S. Army and Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) successfully intercepted a cruise missile at an extended range during today’s flight test using the Army Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System (IBCS) with Sentinel and Patriot radars and a Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3) interceptor. The flight test demonstrated the value of IBCS to detect, track and engage the low-flying threat at a distance well beyond the range limitation of the current Patriot system. /QUOTE]
 
"The flight test demonstrated the value of IBCS to detect, track and engage the low-flying threat at a distance well beyond the range limitation of the current Patriot system. "

There;s a Pacific Ocean's worth of wiggle room in that statement.
 
Short of switching to lower frequency and/or a rotator design, there are very few options to get both an increase in defended area+ 360-degree coverage and higher performance against current and future Low RCS threats like stealthy aircraft and Boost Glide vehicles. Raytheon discarded a rotator design quite early on probably pointing to a US Army preference for a staring sensor. They ditched the small 1m x 0.7m rear panels in favor of what appear to be significantly larger rear arrays. If they stick to a C-band design, which they did, this basically leaves them no other option than to grow the size of the sensor. Given the fact that they are the incumbent and should have a fairly good pulse of what the PATRIOT user community wants, I tend to think that the operators prefer performance and coverage over mobility and logistical footprint. MEADS gave them an X-band MFCR on a stretched FMTV..but the Army didn't want it. This is PATRIOT radar on steroids.
 
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The rear-panels seem to have doubled in size ( at a minimum) compared to the earlier PATRIOT AESA proposal from the past -

The radar that Raytheon specifically designed for the Army uses next-generation gallium nitride technology and is 7 feet longer but 11 inches more narrow than the radar unit. But it no longer requires outrigger stabilizing legs. Rather, the system is held stable by jacks underneath, which means its takes up less space on the sides, according to Bob Kelley, Raytheon’s director of domestic integrated air and missile defense programs for business development and strategy.

The radar meets all of the Army’s mobility and transport requirements, Kelley said, including fitting in a C-17 aircraft.
There is one large, forward-facing radar array and two smaller arrays — roughly 50 percent of the size of the legacy Patriot system’s array — in the back, which achieve a constant 360-degree capability, Kelley said. And while the radar panels in the back are smaller, they are twice as capable due to advancements in gallium nitride technology, he added.

 
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I can't find any pictures of the system packaged for movement, but it looks like all of the antenna faces fold downward to form a solid block for shipping?
 
Not difficult to visualize this. The second attached image in my post above shows the setup nicely with the rear panels folding down flush and the primary panel resting flat. Overall, the system is just 2 feet taller than the current radar when packed.
 

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I can't find any pictures of the system packaged for movement, but it looks like all of the antenna faces fold downward to form a solid block for shipping?
Yes
Heres a pic of the rear view with the spaces for the 2 smaller antennas to fold down into.
EG2o44sXYAAOQRv.jpg

It is a rather massive and unwieldy looking piece of kit to put in mildly,Honestly after seeing this monstrousity I`m almost surprised that they just didnt come up with a railroad locomotive style turntable setup that the existing radar trailer could just be parked on and physically rotated instead.
 
I think it's a cobbled together mock-up. Massive lifting eyes on the rotating section would only make sense during assembly or other factory visits. You would always lift the trailer and not the payload to prevent damage. The jacks in lieu of out-riggers look to small based on the thickness of the steel gussets and structure at the rear of the unit. That unit must weigh a lot to use just jacks and not outriggers if the radar unit is swung more than a few degrees in windy conditions. A lot of wind load from the antenna and even the cooling unit would cause it to want to roll and tip. No center keel apparent for the trailer and no kingpin on it either. Can't believe the number of fans/radiators on it. Would think they could reduce the number and save weight. Setting aside the automotive issues really like the idea of 3 staring arrays for 360 deg. coverage. The recent attack on Saudi assets in my opinion assured the 360 deg. design would be selected.
 

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