Initial integration of Army's MAPS soft-kill demonstrator complete
NewsMarch 28, 2017
ORLANDO, Fla. The U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC) with Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman engineers teamed up and completed the initial integration for the U.S. Army's Modular Active Protection System (MAPS) soft-kill demonstrator.
Under the TARDEC soft-kill demonstrator contract, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman worked together to prove the functionality of an open-architecture solution for MAPS. Using Lockheed Martin's Open Architecture Processor and Northrop Grumman's sensor and countermeasure systems, the team completed initial integration in preparation for full system demonstrations on an M1 Abrams tank in 2017.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="291" caption="Lockheed Martin's Open Architecture Processor. Image by Lockheed Martin.
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"Industry's commitment to collaborate in developing this critical capability is the key to a truly modular active protection system," says Paul Lemmo, vice president of Fire Control/SOF CLSS at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control. "Through our collaboration, we verified the value of an open-system design, which allows for easy integration of current and future MAPS components."
Active protection system components can be independently developed and integrated into a MAPS-based active protection system. Officials explain, a soft-kill capability enables the active protection system to confuse an incoming sensor-based weapon system through spoofing, interference or obscuration, resulting in the elimination of the threat.
"Successful integration of the existing Northrop Grumman Passive Infrared Cueing Sensor (PICS) and Multifunction Electro-Optic System countermeasure (MEOS) within the MAPS framework demonstrates the value of the open architecture construct," says Arlene Camp, vice president of surveillance and targeting sensors at Northrop Grumman. "This open architecture construct, combined with multifunction capabilities, highlights the ability to adapt products developed for the air domain to the ground vehicle mission with reduced timelines and lower costs."
Lockheed Martin's Open Architecture Processor controls and processes information from multiple sensors and countermeasures, and drives information displays.
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