The US Army is planning to add up to four new Patriot battalions, with one of them assigned to support the Guam unit in the Western Pacific.

The upcoming battalions will use the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS), with 360-degree coverage and a range of around 85 kilometers (53 miles). It is an upgrade over the older AN/MPQ-65 radar. 

Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. James J. Mingus called the Patriot the service’s “most stressed force element.” Only 14 out of 15 Patriot battalions are available, as one is undergoing a re-do. Three are in the Indo-Pacific, one at the US European Command, and the rest are with the service.

He also highlighted one that was deployed to the US Central Command for nearly 500 days, which was able to defend Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar against Iranian missiles in June.

Given this situation, expanding battalions can help ease operational strain while increasing Washington’s defense capabilities worldwide. 

Mingus first announced this development at the Strategic Landpower Dialogue at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. 

Patriot and LTAMDS

The MIM-104 Patriot is a mobile, surface-to-air missile defense system designed to detect, track, and intercept enemy aircraft, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles at medium to high altitudes and ranges.

Amid increasingly evolving aerial threats, the system is being modernized with the next-generation LTAMDS, which detects and tracks low-altitude cruise missiles, hypersonic weapons, short-range ballistic missiles, and drones.

The RTX-manufactured radar is part of the US Army’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense System, which includes the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) developed by Northrop Grumman.

“You could take those same 15 Patriot battalions we have today, give it [IBCS] and LTAM[D]s, and fundamentally when you operationally employ it, it’s immediately doubling that capability,” Mingus said. 

“You would have the equivalent of about 30 Patriot battalions because instead of having to deploy as batteries, you can break them up and disperse them in a much more tactical way,” he added.