New AN/TPQ-46B Radar Delivered to US Marines

Defense Technology News — By Thales on November 24, 2009 at 6:15 am

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FULLERTON, Ca: ThalesRaytheonSystems has delivered the first of 21 weapon locating radars to the U.S. Marine Corps to improve enemy fire detection and location.

The lightweight, highly mobile and affordable AN/TPQ-46B radar is the U.S. Marine Corps' version of the U.S. Army AN/TPQ-36(V)10 radar. The radars are equipped with a reliable and powerful (V)10 radar processor built by ThalesRaytheonSystems and are currently in high-rate production for the U.S. Army.

"There is nothing more critical than the ability to target and counter threats on the battlefield," said Kim Kerry, chief executive officer of ThalesRaytheonSystems, U.S. Operations. "This technology is vital for the Marine Corps' tactical capabilities as the force continues to grow."

These additional radar systems will bring the total U.S. Marine Corps' inventory to almost 50 systems, supporting the recent force size build-up from 175,000 to 202,000 Marines. More than 250 AN/TPQ-36 radars are currently in use by the U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps and 14 foreign countries worldwide.

The AN/TPQ-46B radar accurately, rapidly and automatically locates short- and medium-range enemy mortars, artillery and rocket launchers, allowing friendly forces to return fire.

Work under the Marine Corps' radar contract is being performed at Raytheon's Forest, Miss., production facility through October 2010 and includes ten spare antenna arrays for the U.S. Army.

Formed eight years ago, ThalesRaytheonSystems is an international company specializing in air defense systems, command and control systems, 3D air defense radars, battlefield and counter-battery radars. The company employs 1,600 people and is equally owned by Raytheon and Thales.