USMC, Northrop Grumman complete integration event with AN/TPS G/ATOR system
NewsFebruary 27, 2017
BALTIMORE. U.S. Marine Corps and Northrop Grumman officials completed an initial integration event for the AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) system.
The three-week event - conducted in November 2016 - demonstrated G/ATOR’s ground weapon locating radar (GWLR) mode’s ability to detect and track multiple types of rocket, artillery, and mortar (RAM) rounds simultaneously. In live fire event, over 40 different weapon scenarios were evaluated and more than 700 live shots were fired, including a variety of RAM rounds.
GWLR tracked projectiles including volley fire between 6km and 50km, demonstrating G/ATOR’s long range capability. Volley fire capability is the ability to detect and track multiple RAM projectiles intentionally fired in very rapid sequence in an attempt to overwhelm radar capabilities.
“GWLR mode detects and tracks time-critical incoming threats, calculates an approximate impact point, and then tracks the threat’s trajectory back in time to estimate a firing position, allowing counterfire forces to engage rapidly,” says Roshan Roeder, vice president, mission solutions, Northrop Grumman. “The volley fire capability that G/ATOR demonstrated is critical on the modern battlefield, and all of the data collected during IIE indicates that GWLR can exceed the U.S. Marine Corps’ range capability.”
The AN/TPS-80 G/ATOR is a multi-mission system that performs four principal missions using the same hardware: short-range air defense, tactical air operations control, counterfire target acquisition (GWLR mode), and future air traffic control. GWLR mode adds software to the G/ATOR system to detect, track, and identify RAM projectiles, both 360-degree and sector-only. The GWLR mode addresses multiple types of simultaneous threats.
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