Protecting the Soldier: U.S. Army Orders More Q-53 Counterfire Radars from Lockheed Martin

Lockheed Martin will manufacture additional AN/TPQ-53 counterfire radar systems for the U.S. Army under a $1.6 billion order-dependent contract. The Q-53 radar system supports troops in combat by detecting, classifying, tracking and identifying the location of enemy indirect fire in either 360- or 90-degree modes. Lockheed Martin completed the 100th Q-53 radar system for the […]
Lockheed Martin will manufacture additional AN/TPQ-53 counterfire radar systems for the U.S. Army under a $1.6 billion order-dependent contract. The Q-53 radar system supports troops in combat by detecting, classifying, tracking and identifying the location of enemy indirect fire in either 360- or 90-degree modes. Lockheed Martin completed the 100th Q-53 radar system for the Army in January and is manufacturing multiple Q-53 radar systems per month. Since Lockheed Martin won the development contract for the Q-53 radar in 2007, the company has won five additional contracts for a total of more than 100 radar systems, 95 systems have been delivered to the Army. With this full-rate production contract award, the Army’s complement of Q-53 radar systems will total more than 170. “The Q-53 system helps troops know what is going on around them in an increasingly complicated world,” said Rick Herodes, director of Lockheed Martin’s Q-53 radar program. “What’s so special about the Q-53 radar system is the inherent flexibility of its software controlled active electronically scanned array (AESA). Our engineers can adjust the Q-53’s software to address emerging threats. Having control in the software allows quick reaction to whatever comes next – so the first Q-53 radar system off the line could be quickly updated to be just as capable as the 170th Q-53 radar system.” Lockheed Martin is the only company producing active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars for the Army. Over the last 10 years new threats have emerged including unmanned aerial systems (UAS). Thanks to the flexibility of open architecture designs, simple software modifications can be made to adjust radar systems, including the Q-53 radar, to meet various missions. The U.S. Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $28 million contract in November for “quick reaction capability to add counter-unmanned aerial system to the AN/TPQ-53 radar system” simultaneous with its core counterfire mission. The Q-53 radar can be readily adapted to provide both air surveillance and counterfire target acquisition in one tactical sensor. The radar system demonstrated its multimission radar (MMR) capability by identifying and tracking aerial systems and passing that information to a command and control node, a key capability as the battlespace rapidly becomes more crowded with emerging air threats. The Q-53 supports counter-insurgency missions as well as high-intensity combat operations. The system is highly mobile on the battlefield; it can be set up in five minutes, taken down in two minutes and supports two-man operation. Work on the Q-53 radars is performed at Lockheed Martin facilities in Syracuse and Owego, New York, Moorestown, New Jersey, and Clearwater, Florida. For additional information, visit our website: www.lockheedmartin.com/us/products/tpq53.html  

US to send first element of anti-missile system in Europe to Romania

ATIcourses offered a broad range of both open enrollment and on-site courses related to radar and ballistic missile defense using the AEGIS system. Electronic Warfare- Introduction 101 Electronic Warfare- Advanced Missile System Design Modern Infrared Sensor Technology Modern Missile Analysis Multi-Target Tracking & Multi-Sensor Data Fusion Network Centric Warfare – An Introduction Principles of Naval […]
ATIcourses offered a broad range of both open enrollment and on-site courses related to radar and ballistic missile defense using the AEGIS system.
We thought the news below could be or interest to our readers. The firsts components of a US-made anti-missile system are being assembled in New Jersey ahead of their shipping to Romania in a few weeks, reports DefenseNews. In about a year, all the pieces will be reassembled to become the first operational shore-based element of the European Phased Adaptive Approach anti-missile system. According to DefenseNews, the system is the first land-based version of the Aegis combat system, a sophisticated collection of phased-array radars, fire control directors, computers and missiles. The deployment of the Aegis Ashore system in Romania to provide ballistic missile coverage for southern Europe represents the second phase of the European Phased Adaptive Approach, and will also use enhanced SM-3 Block IB interceptor missiles. A second Aegis Ashore site will be built in Poland in the third phase of the project. A ceremony for the USD 134 million Aegis Ashore installation was held in late-October 2013 at Deveselu Air Base in Romania. The local component of the shield at Deveselu will cover 175 hectares and around 200 American staff and troops will be stationed in Romania once the base becomes functional, in 2015. According to the agreement signed in 2011, Deveselu remains under Romania’s property and sovereign jurisdiction.


Sign Up For ATI Courses eNewsletter

Lockheed Martin Vs Raytheon or Who Gets Navy Air and Missile Defense Radar AMDR contract

Applied Technology Institute (ATI Courses) offers a variety of courses on Radar, Missiles & Combat Systems.  The news below would be of interest to our readers. Lockheed Martin has filed a protest over competitor Raytheon Oct. 10 award of the Navy’s Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) contract , Lockheed Martin officials confirmed to USNI News on […]
Applied Technology Institute (ATI Courses) offers a variety of courses on Radar, Missiles & Combat Systems.  The news below would be of interest to our readers. Lockheed Martin has filed a protest over competitor Raytheon Oct. 10 award of the Navy’s Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) contract , Lockheed Martin officials confirmed to USNI News on Wednesday. The protest — filed on Tuesday — will now begin a process that could stop work on the new radar until the Government Accountability Office (GAO) decides on the validity of the protest. The process can take up to 100 days before the GAO renders a decision. Lockheed’s move follows the $386 million award to Raytheon for an S-band AMDR and radar suite controller (RSC) planned for the Navy’s Flight III Arleigh Burke guided missile destroyers. Additional options in the contract could grow the final contract to $1.6 billion. Lockheed has supplied radars for the Navy’s guided missile destroyers throughout the Aegis program — primarily with its SPY-1 line of radars — back to the early 1980s. Given Lockheed’s longevity with the program, the protest did not come as a surprise. Naval Sea Systems Command would not comment on the protest other than saying the AMDR the award was the result of, “a full and open competition” Lockheed said the company, “submitted a technically compliant solution at a very affordable price,” read a company statement on the protest provided to USNI News on Wednesday. “We do not believe the merits of our offering were properly considered during the evaluation process.”
Sign Up For ATI Courses eNewsletter

New Mini-Munitions Will Soon Eliminate Civilian Casualties and Collateral Damage

Civilian casualties and collateral damage could be completely eliminated in the near future thanks to a line of new mini-munitions designed by leading government defense contractors. Raytheon Missile Systems is in process of designing a 13lb Small Tactical Munition to be carried by smaller unmanned aircraft like Shadow, TigerShark, Hunter and Viking. STM uses a […]

Civilian casualties and collateral damage could be completely eliminated in the near future thanks to a line of new mini-munitions designed by leading government defense contractors.

Raytheon Missile Systems is in process of designing a 13lb Small Tactical Munition to be carried by smaller unmanned aircraft like Shadow, TigerShark, Hunter and Viking. STM uses a combination of GPS satellite and inertial navigation with semi-active laser targeting. The device is around 24 inches long and 4 inches around. This will give the drones the option to attack smaller targets like automobiles without causing damage to surrounding areas.

Northrop Grumman has come out with the Viper Strike, a gliding, GPS-aided laser-guided variant of the Northrop Grumman Brilliant Anti-Tank (BAT) munition which originally had a combination acoustic and IR seeker. The Viper Strike is 36 inches long and only 5.5 inches in diameter.

Lockheed Martin has released the Scorpion (21.5 inches in length, and 4.25 inches in diameter),which is adaptable to multiple launch platforms, including manned or unmanned systems. Scorpion uses a semi-active laser (SAL) seeker for man-in-the-loop terminal guidance,and can be tailored to use planned, imaging infrared (I2R), shortwave infrared (SWIR), or millimeter wave (MMW) seekers.

Read more here.


Sign Up For ATI Courses eNewsletter

Another Accomplishment for Lockheed Martin: Intermediate Range Ballistic Missile Blocked by Aegis BMD

Yet another accomplishment was achieved by Lockheed Martin’s Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) on April 14, 2011. Aegis BMD was proven effective against intermediate range ballistic missiles. USS O’Kane (DDG-77, Arleigh Burke-class destroyer ) was used for the exercise. Here is how it worked. • Aegis BMD used AN/TPY-2 radar to track the missile • […]
Yet another accomplishment was achieved by Lockheed Martin’s Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) on April 14, 2011. Aegis BMD was proven effective against intermediate range ballistic missiles. USS O’Kane (DDG-77, Arleigh Burke-class destroyer ) was used for the exercise. Here is how it worked. • Aegis BMD used AN/TPY-2 radar to track the missile • Using a launch-on-remote function Aegis BMD system detected the threat very early in flight • A Standard Missile was fired to destroy the inbound missile • Round of applause for Lockheed Martin What does this mean for the rest of us? It means that our US Navy ships can defend themselves more effectively expanding the battle space. There are 25 Aegis BMD-equipped ships currently deployed – 21 U.S. Navy ships and four Japanese destroyers. Three additional ships are planned to become BMD-capable this year.
Sign Up For ATI Courses eNewsletter