Army asks RTX Raytheon to provide tactical networking for artillery fire command and control in Latvia
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. – U.S. Army land warfare experts needed tactical networking for automated planning and controlling artillery fire for the Latvia military. They found their solution from the RTX Raytheon segment in Fort Wayne, Ind.
Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., announced an $18.6 million two-year contract to Raytheon on Wednesday for the International Field Artillery Tactical Data System (IFATDS) for Latvia.
The contract is for 55 IFATDS; 55 IFATDS computer hardware packages; 40 IFATDS weapon control systems; 40 IFATDS forward observer digital systems; four meteorological measuring set-exportable (MET) messaging systems; one installation of IFATDS kits; one year in-country IFATDS field service representation; and operator training.
IFATDS is the U.S. military's export version of the Army's Advanced Field Artillery Tactical Data System (AFATDS), which is the fire support command and control (C2) system employed by the Army and U.S. Marine Corps for automated planning, coordinating, controlling, and executing artillery fire.
Developed originally in the 1980s, AFATDS ranks targets in importance based on sensor data, and performs attack analysis using situational data combined with commander's guidance.
The system is designed to produce timely, accurate, and coordinated fire control options to attack targets using Army, Marine, Navy, and Air Force weapon systems. It seeks to manage attacks on preplanned and time-sensitive targets.
AFATDS supports weapon systems such as mortars, field artillery, rockets, close-air support, attack helicopters, and naval surface fire support. It also acts as a fire support server to local-area and tactical internet-based users, including the AFATDS Effects Management Tool (EMT), and the Marine Corps Command and Control Personal Computer (C2PC) EMT.
AFATDS is part of all U.S. Army echelons from weapons platoon to corps and in the Marine Corps from firing batteries to Marine Expeditionary Forces. It also is installed aboard the U.S. Navy big-deck amphibious assault ships to support marine expeditionary strike groups during amphibious operations.
On this contract Raytheon will do the work in Fort Wayne, Ind., and should be finished by September 2026. For more information contact RTX Raytheon online at www.rtx.com/raytheon, or the Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground at https://acc.army.mil/contractingcenters/acc-apg/.
John Keller | Editor-in-Chief
John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.
