Lockheed Martin recently demonstrated the capabilities of its AN/TPQ-53 counterfire radar system at the U.S. Army’s annual Maneuver and Fires Integration Experiment (MFIX) at Fort Sill, Oklahoma.
The Q-53 is a solid-state, phased-array radar system that can detect, classify, track and locate enemy indirect fire at ranges of 360 or 90 degrees, depending on its mode. During the demonstration at MFIX, an annual exercise in which military and industrial officials witness cutting-edge military technology in action, the radar system showed that it can identify and track unmanned aerial systems, and that it can relay that information to a command and control center.
“The demonstration showed that the Q-53 radar can provide soldiers in combat real-time awareness of air threats,” Lockheed Martin Q-53 Program Director Rick Herodes said. “The inherent flexibility of the Q-53’s active electronically scanned array (AESA) hardware architecture allows us to constantly evolve the Q-53’s software to deal with emerging threats. This demonstration provided further verification that the Q-53 enables the warfighter to stay ahead of changing global threats.”
While tracking unmanned aerial systems and providing data to Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control in the demonstration, the radar also provided accurate targeting data for rockets, artillery and mortar fire. The demonstration showed that the Q-53 radar system offers key capabilities for a battlefield dominated by air threats.
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