The U.S. Missile Defense Agency and American allies will soon be able to obtain deployment-ready ballistic missile defense radars.

The first cooling equipment unit for the AN/TPY-2 radar has been delivered by Raytheon to the MDA 14 months early and more are on the way.

The CEU is a key element of the AN/PY-2 system and when combined with Raytheon's logistics support will allow the agency to operationally deploy the radar system and to shift assets around if needed to meet warfighter needs.

"Raytheon's AN/TPY-2 radar is a critical element in defending against the growing ballistic missile threat," said David Gulla, vice president of Global Integrated Sensors for Raytheon's Integrated Defense Systems business. "Giving MDA the flexibility to quickly deploy an additional, operationally-effective AN/TPY-2 is an important step toward meeting the growing demand for this vital radar."

The AN/TPY-2 is an integral part of the Ballistic Missile Defense System. It is a mobile, X-band phased-array radar that searches, acquires and tracks ballistic missiles. It can be deployed globally in either terminal or forward-based mode.

In terminal mode, the AN/TPY-2 serves as the search, detect, track, discrimination and fire-control radar for the THAAD weapon system, enabling the THAAD missile to intercept and destroy threats. In forward-based mode, the AN/TPY-2 cues the Ballistic Missile Defense System by detecting, discriminating and tracking enemy ballistic missiles in the ascent phase of flight.

In other company developments, Raytheon and its British partner Chemring are finalizing plans to conduct a live missile firing of Chemring's multi-role CENTURION naval launcher at the Defense Training Estate on Salisbury Plain.

The launcher, using various Raytheon missiles, would be used to counter fast inshore attack craft.

"This progression towards integrating CENTURION with Raytheon missiles to deliver a low-cost, effective and versatile solution to increase naval platform protection is a significant milestone," said Mark Papworth, chief executive of Chemring Group. "This multi-mission, single-launch platform solution can be installed on a wide variety of surface ships and provides defensive protection in both blue water and the littorals, contributing to the layered defense philosophy against a wide range of threats."

Added Rick Nelson, vice president of Raytheon Missile Systems' Naval and Area Mission Defense product line: "Our plan is to launch a missile to help prove our capability against a maneuvering surface threat such as a fast, swarming attack craft. Chemring's CENTURION launcher, coupled with a number of Raytheon's combat-tested missiles, brings an entirely new dimension to ship self-defense to provide a sea-based, inside-the-horizon platform protection system."

Additional details about the Raytheon missiles to be used and on the test itself were not provided.

Raytheon has also reported its Raytheon UK subsidiary has launched a new Stand-Off Improvised Explosive Device Detection and Confirmation Technology, known as Soteria.

The system, for vehicle mounting, uses optical processing technology for high-definition IED detection, confirmation and diagnosing from a stand-off distance.