The Royal Netherlands Defence Materiel Organisation is upgrading its Patriot air and missile defence system.

A contract has been awarded to Raytheon to upgrade Patriot command and control shelters with the Modern Man Station (MMS) user interface.

The operator-machine interface upgrade provides a full-colour graphical user interface with liquid crystal display (LCD) monitors.

It also offers enhanced situational awareness with best-in-class command and control decision support tools, Raytheon said in a statement.

MMS is used to identify and display airborne objects, track potential threats and engage hostile targets, such as aircraft, unmanned air vehicles, and cruise and tactical ballistic missiles.

Raytheon Integrated Air and Missile Defense business development vice-president Joe DeAntona said: "Patriot remains a pillar of Nato missile defence because it is the only fielded, combat-proven air and missile defence system capable of outpacing the evolving threat.

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"This upgrade will make it easier for the Netherlands to operate Patriot, and will provide them enhanced situational awareness."

Last year, the Netherlands announced that it will continue investing in Patriot.

"This upgrade will make it easier for the Netherlands to operate Patriot, and will provide them enhanced situational awareness."

In 2014, Netherlands deployed two Patriot batteries to Turkey for two years where they helped defend that country from ballistic missiles.

Raytheon Integrated Air and Missile Defense vice-president Ralph Acaba said: "The Netherlands will continuously modernise Patriot as they intend to keep it in their inventory until at least 2040.

"The Modern Man Station is an important step in the Royal Netherlands Army's plan to upgrade their entire Patriot inventory to the most advanced capability currently available."

The MMS were procured through a direct commercial sales contract.

Both the quantity of MMS and the total value of the contract are undisclosed.


Image: Patriot can counter threats from tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, drones and advanced aircraft. Photo: courtesy of Raytheon.