Article Posted on : - Aug 16, 2012

A Lockheed Martin photo.

ORLANDO (BNS): The first Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR) has been integrated with a MEADS battle manager and launcher at Pratica di Mare Air Force Base near Rome, Italy.

US defence major Lockheed Martin carried out the integration test series to demonstrate that the MEADS TOC could control the MEADS MFCR in coordination with the MEADS Launcher.

At Pratica di Mare, the MFCR demonstrated key functionalities including 360-degree target acquisition and track using both dedicated flights and other air traffic.

The MFCR has been airlifted to White Sands Missile Range, N.M., in preparation for an intercept flight test later this year.

The MFCR is an X-band, solid-state, phased array radar using element-level transmit/receive modules. It provides precision tracking and wideband discrimination and classification capabilities.

For extremely rapid deployments, the MEADS MFCR can provide both surveillance and fire control capabilities until surveillance radar joins the network, the company said.

The MFCR uses its main beam for uplink and downlink missile communications. An advanced Mode 5 identify friend-or-foe subsystem supports improved threat identification and typing.

Through its plug-and-fight capability, the MFCR simply acts as a node on the MEADS network. The MEADS battle manager lets a commander dynamically add or subtract sensors and shooters as the situation dictates without shutting the system down.