Lockheed Martin to provide power electronics components for AN/TPS-59A(V)3 surveillance radar
TOBYHANNA, Pa., 25 Aug. 2016. Radar experts at the Lockheed Martin Corp. Mission Systems and Training segment in Liverpool, N.Y., will provide power electronics for the AN/TPS-59A version 3 transportable long-range surveillanceradar under term of a $12.6 million contract awarded Wednesday by the U.S. Army Contracting Command at Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pa.
The AN/TPS-59A(V)3 is a long-range 3-D ground-based air surveillance radar for anti-air warfare to a maximum range of 300 nautical miles, and tactical ballistic missile surveillance to a range of 400 nautical miles.
For this contract Lockheed Martin will provide 108 row transmitters and 27 row power supplies for new array electronics for the AN/TPS-59A(V)3 radar systems.
The AN/TPS-59A(V)3, the latest version of the TPS-59 fielded in 1985, can detect and track air-breathing targets like aircraft and cruise missiles as far away as 300 miles, and can detect tactical ballistic missiles as far away as 400 miles. It offers 360-degree coverage to elevations of nearly 200 miles.
Two years ago Lockheed Martin won a $35.7 million contract from the Army Contracting Command-Tobyhanna to provide array electronics for the AN/TPS-59A(V)3. The radar's 54 transmitters are laid out in 54 rows, each of which operates independently of the others.
The radar handles azimuth scanning by the antenna's mechanical rotation, while handling electronic scanning in elevation by with phase-controlled solid-state row transmitters and row receivers.
The radar uses a scanning pencil-beam to provide wide, accurate coverage. It can track targets as small as one meter wide at ranges to 400 nautical miles. It is designed to provide land forces such as the U.S. Marines with tactical air surveillance, and can contribute to the Navy Cooperate Engagement Capability (CEC).
Lockheed Martin won a $7.5 million U.S. Marine Corps contract in fall 2013 to upgrade the AN/TPS-59A(V)3's obsolete Oracle Sun Netra T5220 carrier-grade ruggedized computer servers, the radar's operations console computers, and re-integrated the system's proprietary software.
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Engineers replaced the Oracle Sun Netra T5220 rugged server with the Oracle Sun Netra T4-1 carrier-grade server, which the Marine Corps obtained through the Marine Corps Common Hardware Suite (MCCHS) and provided to Lockheed Martin as government-furnished property.
For the power electronics contract announced Wednesday, Lockheed Martin will do the work in Syracuse, N.Y.; Oldsmar, Fla.; and Moorestown, N.J., and will be finished by October 2018.
For more information contact Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training online at www.lockheedmartin.com/us/mst.html, the Army Contracting Command at http://acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-apg, or Tobyhanna Army Depot at www.tobyhanna.army.mil.
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John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
