Army to buy counter-mortar radars from SRCTec in potential quarter-billion-dollar contract
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md., 22 July 2013. U.S. Army leaders needed special radar systems to help defend deployed warfighters from rocket, artillery, and mortar (RAM) attacks. They found their solution from SRCTec Inc. in Syracuse, N.Y.
The Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., announced a potential $221.8 million indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract to SRCTec late last week for lightweight counter mortar radar (LCMR) systems, services, and spare parts.
The LCMR family of counterfire radars from SRCTec provides 360 degree surveillance and 3-D rocket, artillery and mortar (RAM) location using a non-rotating, electronically steered antenna.
The radar systems detect and track several different rounds fired from separate locations, and send early warning messages indicating a round is incoming. The radar also pinpoints the location of the incoming round's launcher for counterfire from friendly artillery, mortars, or aircraft.
The SRCTec LCMR family consists of the AN/TPQ-49 and AN/TPQ-50. The TPQ-50 is the official Army program of record, while the TPQ-49 is designed for expeditionary forces, company officials say.
Both systems are designed to cover 360 degrees over a nearly 200-square-mile area. The systems can be adapted to cover narrower sectors at longer ranges, if necessary.
The LCMR AN/TPQ-49 radar can be assembled or disassembled by two soldiers in 20 minutes. It mounts on a tripod using lightweight antenna hardware. The relatively small system consumes low prime power, making it suitable for low-profile operation.
The LCMR AN/TPQ-50 system detects incoming RAM from low-quadrant elevations, and provides a more accurate point of origin calculation from greater distances than its predecessors. The radar can be transported and operated on a vehicle such as a HMMWV, or rapidly emplaced in rugged terrain by installing it on a tripod.
The radar systems operate on L band, can detect incoming rounds more than six miles out, and can pinpoint enemy rocket, artillery, and mortar launchers within 75 meters.
For more information contact SRCTech online at www.srcinc.com/srctec, or the Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground at www.acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-apg.
