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 according to their website.
Rick Herodes, director of Lockheed Martin’s Q-53 radar programme said:
“The Q-53 system helps troops know what is going on around them in an increasingly complicated world,. What’s so special about the radar system is the inherent flexibility of its software controlled active electronically scanned array. Our engineers can adjust the software to address emerging threats.
Having control in the software allows quick reaction to whatever comes next – so the first radar system off the line could be quickly updated to be just as capable as the 170th system.”
Lockheed Martin say they are the only company producing active electronically scanned array radars for the US Army.
The US Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $28 million contract in November last year for “quick reaction capability to add counter-unmanned aerial system to the AN/TPQ-53 radar system” and it’s understood that the system can be readily adapted to provide both air surveillance and counterfire target acquisition with one tactical sensor.
