In the latest episode of The Merge Podcast, Mike sat down with Joe DeAntona, Raytheon vice president, Requirements & Capabilities, Land & Air Defense Systems, to discuss the NASAMS (National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile System) a product that re-purposes AIM-120 and AIM-9X missiles for air defense. They cover various topics, including the system's capabilities, its deployment in different countries, its success in combat situations (including Ukraine), and its potential applications. They also talk about system flexibility, collaboration with partners like Kongsberg, recent developments, and a demo conducted to enhance the system's capabilities, especially in countering cruise missiles.   Show notes: ●     Introducing Mike [01:05] ●     Joe’s background [03:30] ●     Overview of NASAMS and its capabilities [04:29] ●     The key part of NASAMS [06:39] ●     Different generations of NASAMS, and where it is in the U.S. military [11:13] ●     The key elements of NASAMS [19:45] ●     Discussion on ground-based air missiles [23:20] ●     Raytheon’s history, and the IRAD project [33:13] ●     NASAMS’ successful demonstration supported by the U.S. Air Force [38:00] ●     Discussion on radars [41:57] ●     NASAMS involvement in the IFPC [48:00] ●     NASAMS' combat success and its deployment in Ukraine [54:53] ●     On developing a counter cruise missile solution [01:05:18]   Links: ●     Sign up for our newsletter⁠ ●     Support us on ⁠Patreon⁠ ●     Mike Benitez (LinkedIn)   Follow us: ●     ⁠Instagram⁠ ●     ⁠Facebook⁠ ●     X (Twitter)⁠ ●     LinkedIn⁠ ●     ⁠Website⁠