MCKINNEY, Texas: Raytheon Company recently demonstrated its proven Target Verification System (TVS) capability to provide air-to-ground combat identification for U.S. and coalition partners during Operation Bold Quest.
Preliminary Bold Quest results show Raytheon TVS performed well in the air-to-ground role and under battlefield conditions of poor weather, obscured visibility and urban environments.
Raytheon had integrated the U.S. Army’s Battlefield Target Identification Device (BTID), which incorporates TVS technology, on a Shared Reconnaissance Pod that was mounted on a Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet. Multiple sorties were flown against ground targets located among numerous stationary and moving BTID-identified friendly forces.
“Raytheon’s BTID was seamlessly integrated with the aircraft’s target acquisition system and provided clearly defined combat ID information on the pilot’s multifunction display,” said Glynn Raymer, vice president, Raytheon Network Centric Systems Combat Systems. “For air-to-ground purposes, the device is configured the same as ground-to-ground applications and employs Raytheon’s proven TVS technology.”
Raytheon’s participation in Bold Quest was funded by a $5.5 million U.S. Navy contract initiated by the Marine Corps. Military evaluation of BTID’s airborne performance during the exercise is ongoing.
“The initial feedback from pilots has been extremely positive about this new and needed airborne combat ID capability. BTID has already proved highly effective in ground-to-ground applications, and Bold Quest demonstrated equal effectiveness in air-to-ground applications,” said Brad Hollenberg, a senior director with NCS Combat Systems. “The technology is easy to use, designed to provide constant and independent verification of friendly forces’ relative location while on ingress to intended targets. This significantly speeds up firing decisions and helps to minimize the potential for fratricide.”
Raytheon’s TVS is an electronic “question and answer” Ka radio technology. Highly directional, it uses low power and is encrypted for covert full-spectrum contingency operations. The technology is also designed for ease of integration with modern surveillance and targeting systems and can reliably identify equipped friendly forces in less than one second at long ranges and well within the normal target engagement cycle.
Raytheon Company, with 2008 sales of $23.2 billion, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. Raytheon, with headquarters in Waltham, MA, employs 73,000 people worldwide.
Background Information
Bold Quest was sponsored by the U.S. Joint Forces Command at Camp Lejeune, N.C., in November 2009. The major field exercise involved more than 800 personnel and equipment from 10 U.S. and allied partner nations to evaluate multiple combat identification technologies.
