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The U.S. Army may revive the program to field a Patriot interceptor replacement.
A year after the U.S. Army appeared to turn its back on a program to develop a future lower-tier missile interceptor, the service is optimistic the program is back on the agenda.
“I believe that we will get support for the program,” Maj. Gen. Frank Lozano, the service’s program executive officer for missile and space, said at the Association of the U.S. Army’s (AUSA) annual symposium in Washington. “I may be in a position this time next year to begin ‘program of record’ execution.”
The service was looking at the so-called Lower-Tier Future Interceptor (LTFI) program as a follow-on to the Patriot interceptors now in production before ending the push a year ago, citing cost concerns.
Lozano noted that the outlook for the program still is somewhat in flux. “The glass is probably half full that we’ll get to run the program,” he told the AUSA gathering on Oct. 13.
The service is trying to define both the requirements for such a system as well as the acquisition strategy. Lozano signaled interest in pursuing one of the relatively new procurement approaches the Pentagon has embraced to speed fielding of equipment—in particular the middle tier of the acquisition path to rapidly develop fieldable prototypes. The goal is to get a minimal viable system into users’ hands in 3-5 years, Lozano said, and then evolve the system from there.
“We are going to cast a wide net,” he said, noting, “There are a lot of new market entrants into this space.”
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