Gulf states pivot air defenses to U.S. Raytheon amid rising drone and missile attacks.

At the 2025 Dubai Airshow, RTX is showcasing how its Raytheon business is becoming the backbone of a layered Gulf air and missile defense network built around TPY-2, THAAD, Patriot, and NASAMS systems. Facing rapidly evolving ballistic and drone threats from Iran and its partners, Gulf states are using these U.S. systems to plug coverage gaps, deepen interoperability with U.S. forces, and grow their own defense industrial base.

The latest presentations from RTX at this year’s Dubai Airshow make one thing clear: the air defense map of the Gulf is now being redrawn around a Raytheon-centric architecture. Regional officials and company representatives describe a threat picture that is changing faster than traditional procurement cycles, shaped by cruise missile raids, massed drone attacks, and the spread of long-range strike capabilities in Iran and among non-state actors. In response, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and their neighbors are investing heavily in a layered mix of U.S. radars and interceptors, combined with local industrial partnerships, to close the blind spots that recent conflicts have exposed.
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From a tactical perspective, this density of layers creates an engagement depth that few other regions match (Picture source: US DoD)

At the top of this architecture, the long-range X-band TPY-2 radar remains a central element of regional missile defense. Designed to detect ballistic targets at ranges beyond 1,000 km and refine trajectories in the terminal phase, it supplies data to the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system, which can intercept missiles in the endo- and exo-atmosphere at altitudes of up to around 150 km. The most recent versions use gallium nitride (GaN) transmit/receive modules across the array, which increase emitted power, effective range, and discrimination capability in environments saturated with decoys, while improving resistance to jamming. For operators such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and, soon, Qatar, these radars not only support their own Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) batteries but also function as forward warning nodes able to cue Patriot and other interceptors across the theater. The production of power units by Saudi Arabian Military Industries (SAMI), within the framework of technology transfer agreements, reflects Riyadh’s aim to capture part of the added value while securing the supply chain for this sensor.

In the lower layer, the Patriot system remains the main effector. The latest Patriot Advanced Capability-3 Missile Segment Enhancement (PAC-3 MSE) missile offers improved performance against short-range ballistic missiles, with a hit-to-kill interception profile that limits debris falling on the defended area. To address the issue of full-horizon coverage, Raytheon proposes the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS), an active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar using GaN modules. This technology increases emitted power, effective range, and discrimination, and improves survivability against jamming. Part of this GaN production chain is localized through a partnership with the Emirati group Tawazun, which anchors the United Arab Emirates in the broader effort to upgrade the regional BITD.

The short- and medium-range ground-based air defense segment is structured around the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) family. The AIM-120, equipped with an active radar seeker, offers a range of several tens of kilometers and an all-weather capability that is valued both in air-to-air engagements and in surface-to-air roles. Integrated into the National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), developed with Norwegian company Kongsberg, it forms a “goalkeeper” layer able to engage aircraft, helicopters, MALE drones, and low-flying cruise missiles. The AMRAAM Extended Range (AMRAAM-ER) variant, which combines a booster derived from the ESSM with the front section of the Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM), expands the defended volume, allowing countries such as Qatar, the first customer for this version, to rationalize the number of launchers while covering multiple air bases and dispersed energy infrastructures.

A country-by-country overview shows how firmly this architecture is now established in the Gulf. Saudi Arabia has the densest surface-to-air inventory, with several Patriot PAC-3 battalions and a large number of launchers, supplemented by upgraded Hawk systems and lighter point-defense assets. The United Arab Emirates combines Patriot PAC-3 batteries, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) units, and short-range systems such as Pantsir-S1, Mistral, and Rapier, while introducing newer solutions such as Barak LRAD and South Korean Cheongung II missiles. Qatar fields Patriot PAC-3 MSE batteries, a latest-generation National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS) based on Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) and AMRAAM Extended Range (AMRAAM-ER), as well as man-portable point-defense systems, while strengthening its long-range radar early warning. Bahrain is upgrading its capabilities with new Patriot defenses grouped on a recently inaugurated base, while Kuwait treats the improvement of air and missile defense as a central political priority, relying on the US presence and its own modernization programs. Oman remains focused on upgraded Hawk systems combined with radar-guided anti-aircraft artillery, which provides medium-range coverage but without a direct equivalent to the upper Patriot or Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) layers.

From a tactical perspective, this density of layers creates an engagement depth that few other regions match. TPY-2 radars deliver early warning on ballistic trajectories and feed tracking data to Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) and Patriot batteries. Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) radars add 360-degree surveillance of the lower volume, which reduces vulnerability to attacks from the rear or flanks, particularly from terrain-following cruise missiles and long-endurance drones. NASAMS and other short-range systems engage residual threats, light drones, surviving cruise missiles, and low-flying aircraft, while easing pressure on the most expensive missile stocks. The issue becomes less the availability of any single system than the coherence of the whole, from Emission Control (EMCON) to the circulation of a shared tactical picture between national command centers and US detachments.

The heavy investment of Gulf monarchies in these RTX solutions fits into a broader reconfiguration of security guarantees. The 2023 China–Saudi Arabia agreement, the gradual normalization between Riyadh and Tehran, and the closer cooperation among the United Arab Emirates, Israel and the United States do not remove perceptions of a possible strategic surprise, driven by Iranian ballistic programs and the spread of long-range delivery systems among Tehran’s partners. The Patriot, Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD), National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System (NASAMS), and Barak layers, therefore, do more than protect energy infrastructure and major air bases; they also function as an instrument of foreign policy. They formalize the relationship with Washington, create room for maneuver toward other suppliers, and give the regional BITD additional levers in future offset arrangements and burden-sharing discussions on collective defense.