The Army said it will buy seven more Lockheed Martin [LMT] AN/TPQ-53 (Q-53) Radar Systems for $85 million, the company said Monday.
The Q-53 is a solid-state phased array counterfire target acquisition radar that detects, classifies, tracks, and determines the location of enemy indirect fire, the company said in the product description website. The system is mounted on a five-ton truck that can be rapidly deployed, automatically leveled, and remotely operated at 90 or 360-degreees with a laptop computer or from a climate-controlled command vehicle, Lockheed Martin said.
“Soldiers can rapidly deploy the truck-mounted Q-53 and quickly determine the source of enemy fire. The 55 systems Lockheed Martin has delivered to the U.S. Army give troops proven, advanced protection when they need it most,” Bob Stelmack, Q-53 program manager for Lockheed Martin mission systems and training, said in a statement.
The company was earlier selected to upgrade 19 of the U.S. Army’s Q-53 radars in June. “The high-performing hardware and software is constantly evolving to accommodate technical advances in capabilities and address global threats,” Lockheed Martin said in a statement.
The company first won a development contract for the Q-53 radar in 2007, later winning four more contracts (for a total of 97 systems) and delivered 55 Q-53s. The radar system has been deployed in combat since 2010. The Army expects to award a full-rate production contract by early 2016, covering 77 more systems, Lockheed Martin said.
The AN/TPQ-53 is produced at company facilities in Syracuse, N.Y.; Moorestown, N.J.; Owego, N.Y.; and Clearwater, Fla.