Raytheon Awarded $600 Million Contract to Update Missile System from Undisclosed Country

MARLBOROUGH, MA — An undisclosed member of the 13 nations which owns and operates the combat-proven Patriot Integrated Air and Missile Defense System awarded the Marlborough-based defense company Raytheon a direct commercial sales contract worth more than $600 million to upgrade the system to the most current configuration.

"Patriot saves lives," said Ralph Acaba, Raytheon vice president of Integrated Air and Missile Defense, in a statement. "Our customer faces a very real, evolving threat; by upgrading Patriot, they will continue to protect their civilians, military and critical infrastructure."

The contract was awarded on Dec. 28, and will upgrade the system to the most advanced configuration available, which will enable the patriot to use the PAC-3 MSE interceptor missile and enhance Patriot's ability to destroy ballistic milliles.

The contract was awarded less than 120 days after Poland officially requested Patriot from the United States government, said the release. During that time, this mystery customer awarded Raytheon $225 million for additional Patriot capability. The Netherlands awarded Raytheon a contract to begin modernizing its Patriot systems during this time, as well.

Since December 2014, and including this most recent contract, the 13 Patriot partners have invested more than $7.8 billion in procuring and upgrading the system, said the announcement.

Photo via Raytheon