Lockheed Martin [LMT] recently marked the delivery of the 1,000th Modernized Target Acquisition Designation Sight/Pilot Night Vision Sensor (M- TADS/PNVS) system to the Army at ceremonies held at two company facilities in Florida, officials said.
The M-TADS/PNVS, also known as Arrowheadr, is the advanced targeting and pilotage system for the Army’s AH-64D Apache attack helicopter.
“The M-TADS/PNVS is a game-changer on the battlefield and has ensured Longbow Apaches remain dominant in support of our ground soldiers,” said Col. Shane Openshaw, Army project manager for Apache Attack Helicopter, who saw the first Arrowhead units deploy to Iraq.
“The system was immediately recognized as a game changer in terms of the additional capability that it gave Apache crews in support of the soldiers on the ground and it became immediately apparent that accelerating that capability to the field was of paramount importance to the Army,” he said in a teleconference. The service accelerated the program.
M-TADS/PNVS improves performance and reliability over legacy TADS/PNVS systems by more than 150 percent, reduces maintenance actions by nearly 60 percent, and will save the Army nearly $1 billion in operation and support costs over its 20-year system life, the company said in a statement.
M-TADS/PNVS provides Apache pilots with advanced long-range, electro-optical precision engagement and pilotage capabilities for day, night and adverse weather missions. It uses state-of-the-art forward-looking infrared sensors to provide Apache pilots with improved image resolution, giving them significant standoff range and unrivaled targeting capabilities.
David Belvin, director of Apache programs at Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control, said: “Arrowhead has proven itself in Iraq and Afghanistan during nearly 462,000 flying hours, and instilled trust in our soldiers who fly and fight it and in aircrews who have been able to maintain a 99.2 percent full mission-capable rate with the system.”
Belvin added that “Teamwork has been the secret to the success of this program.”
Openshaw said, “U.S. Apaches are nearly completely equipped with this incredible system, and we will have retrofitted all of our Longbows in the field by the summer of 2011. In addition, many allied force Apaches around the world are M-TADS/PNVS-equipped, greatly enhancing their capability to conduct attack operations and to integrate with U.S. and NATO forces. This production milestone, the delivery of M-TADS/PNVS number 1,000, is another tremendous achievement for this outstanding program.”
The company is working on Production Lot 8, which will support National Guard Units, said Lt. Col. John Vannoy, product manager Apache sensors.
The company expects two more follow-on lots, Belvin said. Additional system upgrades are in early development.
The Army awarded Lockheed Martin the original M-TADS/PNVS contract in 2003. The first systems were theater in 2005. At that time, the Army wanted 704 systems with delivery to be completed in 2011 (Defense Daily, Feb. 18, 2005). Openshaw said the Army’s fleet endstate now is to have 796 of the systems.
“Every Longbow Apache that comes off the remanufacture line or the new-build aircraft will be equipped with the M-TADS/PNVS,” Openshaw said. “This is a program that balances a sustainment effort with a modernization effort.
The newest Apache, the Block III, to come will also have the M-TADS/PVNS, he said. As the aircraft move through the line, much of the unit will be reused and refreshed. The Apache office aims to “design out obsolescence and design in maintainability and reliability” and take advantage of new capabilities.
Additional domestic and international deliveries will continue through 2014. Electronics assembly of M-TADS/PNVS is done at the Lockheed Martin facility in Ocala, Fla., with final assembly at the company’s Orlando, Fla., Facility.