Lockheed Martin,
Successful Field Tests Keep Army Radar Program on Fast Track
WASHINGTON: Lockheed Martin today unveiled its operational prototype of the U.S. Army's new Enhanced AN/TPQ-36 radar – also known as the EQ-36 Counterfire Target Acquisition Radar — at the Association for the United States Army (AUSA)'s 2007 Exposition in Washington, DC.
EQ-36 will provide Soldiers with the capability to detect, classify, track and determine the location of enemy indirect fire such as mortars, artillery and rockets – significant threats to allied Soldiers fighting the War on Terror – in either 90 degree or 360 degree modes. EQ-36 systems will eventually replace aging TPQ-36, TPQ-37 and other Cold War era radars, which only operate in limited 90 degree modes.
For its EQ-36 prototype, Lockheed Martin is leveraging the existing counterfire capabilities of partner Syracuse Research Corp.'s operational Advanced Technology Objective (ATO), a sensor system developed for the Army's Intelligence & Information Warfare Directorate (I2WD) in Ft. Monmouth, NJ. In spring 2007, the prototype completed successful counterfire target acquisition testing in both 90- and 360-degree modes at the U.S. Army's Yuma Proving Grounds in Yuma, AZ. This summer, the system also completed successful air surveillance testing at White Sands Missile Range in White Sands, NM.
“The EQ-36 program is about the Soldier,” said Carl Bannar, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's Radar Systems business. “It's about giving our highly mobile brigade combat teams the rugged, battle-ready, solid- state target acquisition radar system they need to defend against today's lethal threats. We're on the fast track with this program. While radar design and production of an engineering design model typically takes 48 months, we already have a field-tested, operational prototype for EQ-36 after only nine months.”
The EQ-36 program has been under way since January 2007, following Lockheed Martin's contract award of approximately $120 million by the Army's Program Executive Officer-Intelligence, Electronic Warfare & Sensors (PEO- IEW&S). The company will provide the Army with five Enhanced AN/TPQ-36 radars within 36 months. The first two systems will be delivered to the Army by summer 2009; the third and fourth by fall 2009, and the fifth by early 2010.
Lockheed Martin's Radar Systems facility in Syracuse, NY leads the industry team for the EQ-36 program and also is responsible for the transmit/receive (T/R) modules, the antenna array and the digital module assemblies. The T/R modules, provided by Lockheed Martin's Moorestown, NJ, facility, are the “heart” of the radar; the EQ-36 radar's T/R modules are at a very high maturity level, ensuring the performance capability on which the Army relies. Lockheed Martin Simulation, Training & Support, of Orlando, FL, will lead the development and production of the EQ-36 training system and curriculum. Additional teammates include Syracuse Research Corp., of Syracuse, NY, which is responsible for the digital signal processor; Tobyhanna Army Depot, of Tobyhanna, PA, responsible for sustainment maintenance support; and Burtek, Inc., of Chesterfield, MI, which will provide the operations shelter and stationary platform.
