Patriot missile defence system control screen. Raytheon image.

‘Gamer-style’ control interface for Patriot missile defence

18/06/2019 Posted by Brian Hartigan 3286 Views 0 Comments

Raytheon engineers are integrating a ‘Warfighter-Machine Interface’, or WMI, into soon-to-be-fielded Patriot upgrades.

Tom Laliberty, Raytheon Integrated Defense System’s Vice President of Integrated Air and Missile Defense, said this new command-and-control technology would allow coalition operators of Raytheon’s combat-proven Patriot™ air and missile defense system to view complex data in a new, easy-to-understand way.

“WMI replaces pixelated shapes, radar blips and a complex directory system with the type of 3-D visuals, easy-to-read status pages and search functions that any gamer would find familiar,” Mr Laliberty said.

“Raytheon testing shows that WMI improves soldier reaction time and decreases the potential for errors during engagements.

“It also reduces the time required to train operators to employ Patriot.

“Incorporating WMI into [upgrades] leverages the latest technological advances to provide the 16 members of the Patriot partnership a user interface with a total view of their respective battlespace.”

In 2018, the US Army decided to field WMI across Patriot – all 60 fire units and 15 battalion headquarters – at both the battalion- and battery-level command and control.

The upgrades, incorporating WMI, are scheduled to reach initial operational capability with the US Army in 2022.

When Patriot partners subsequently upgrade, WMI will be included.