Raytheon announced it was awarded two direct commercial sales contracts by Qatar for additional integrated air and missile defense capability. The contracts, worth approximately $2.2 billion, include the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), final certification of the AMRAAM-Extended Range missile, and an unspecified quantity of additional Patriot fire units. These awards are part of a larger agreement being pursued by the Qataris with the U.S. government. The combined value is expected to total up to $3B.

National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) (Picture source: Army Recognition)

"Raytheon's integrated air and missile defense capabilities provide a combat-proven, layered approach that protects citizens, military units and infrastructure from a broad spectrum of threats," said Ralph Acaba, President of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems.

Qatar is the first country to procure AMRAAM-ER, the surface-to-air extended-range variant of the combat-proven AMRAAM air-to-air-missile. Qatar also becomes the 11th country to procure NASAMS, a medium-range air-defense solution manufactured by Raytheon and Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace AS. NASAMS uses the Raytheon Sentinel radar and fires multiple interceptors, including AMRAAM-ER.

The combat-proven Patriot system is the backbone of air and missile defense for 16 nations.