SRCTec to build counter-fire radar to protect Ukraine from rocket, artillery, and mortar (RAM) threats
ABERDEEN PROVING GROUND, Md. – U.S. Army air-defense experts are asking engineers at SRCTec LLC in Syracuse, N.Y., to build lightweight counter-mortar radar (LCMR) systems for Ukraine to help defend Ukrainian warfighters from rocket, artillery, and mortar (RAM) attacks.
Officials of the Army Contracting Command at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., have announced a $12.1 million order to SRCTec in late September for UKR/TPQ-50 radar systems as part of the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative.
The LCMR family of counter-fire radars from SRCTec provides 360-degree surveillance and 3D rocket, artillery, and mortar location using a non-rotating, electronically steered antenna.
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.
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 counter-fire from friendly artillery, mortars, or aircraft.
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.
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The LCMR AN/TPQ-50 L-band radar 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 has a range of nearly 10 miles, 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 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.
On this contract modification SRCTec will do the work in Syracuse, N.Y., and should be finished by June 2023. For more information contact SRCTec online at www.srcinc.com/about/companies/srctec.html, or the Army Contracting Command-Aberdeen 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.
