Article Posted on : - Aug 30, 2013

AN/TPQ-53 Radar System. Photo: Lockheed Martin.

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK (BNS): The US Army has awarded Lockheed Martin USD206 million worth contract for the procurement of the AN/TPQ-53 (Q-53), a long-range counterfire radar that provides soldiers with enhanced 360-degree protection from indirect fire.

"The Q-53 radar is helping to save the lives of U.S. forces through its exceptional performance in theater," Lee Flake, programme director for counterfire target acquisition radar programs at Lockheed Martin's Mission Systems & Training business, was quoted as saying in the company news release.

Mounted on a five-tonne truck, the Q-53 can be rapidly deployed, automatically leveled and remotely operated with a laptop computer or from a fully equipped climate-controlled command vehicle.

The Lockheed Martin AN/TPQ-53 counterfire target acquisition radar is a new generation of counterfire sensor with the flexibility to adapt to uncooperative adversaries and changing missions.

This contract is for 19 Q-53 systems, formerly designated as EQ-36. To date Lockheed Martin has delivered 32 initial production systems to the US Army and is currently producing an additional 33 systems, which were awarded in March 2012. This latest contract builds on those 33 systems currently in production.

The US Army began deploying Q-53 systems to combat in Iraq and Afghanistan in fall 2010. The March 2012 contract for 33 systems was a combination of low-rate initial production orders one and two.

Work on the Q-53 radar contract will be performed at Lockheed Martin facilities in Syracuse, New York, Moorestown, New Jersey, Akron, Ohio, and Clearwater, Florida.