thedrifter
11-20-08, 07:09 AM
Marines Take a Chomp Out of Multiple Radars
by Rita Boland
November 17, 2008
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The Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) combines five U.S. Marine Corps legacy radars into one, offering enhanced capabilities and reduced operation and maintenance costs to the Corps. The system has a planar antenna and employs active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar technology.
By using this type of state-of-the-art radar technology, the U.S. Marines Corps will have a highly mobile, multipurpose tool that will help commanders track threats in the air and on the ground. The device will address multiple asymmetric threats targeted at troops and offer capabilities necessary for the 21st century battlefield.
The Marine Corps will begin combating enemies with G/ATOR within the next decade, starting with an increment one rollout in 2012. The device’s most important role is air surveillance; the system will offer enhanced capabilities to detect, track and provide target-quality data to engage hostile aircraft, cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), rockets, mortars and artillery. It also has air traffic control functions.
The various functions of G/ATOR combine through the Marines’ air and ground command and control (C2) nodes. The radar will detect its targets and send all the associated information to the C2 systems. The data from G/ATOR will be amalgamated with individual systems and can be integrated at a higher level with other services or passed directly to the joint battlefield.
G/ATOR can operate in multiple modes simultaneously and track more targets because it employs AESA radar technology. Using the AESA on G/ATOR, commanders can run all the radar functions connecting into the Marine Corps’ air C2 node at once.
AESA radars are composed of small transmit/receive modules, and they employ very short scanning rates. G/ATOR’s AESA architecture enables multimission performance as well as the ability to adapt automatically to changing conditions on the battlefield. The system also incorporates a scalable open-system architecture and multinetwork connectivity.
G/ATOR is the Marines’ materiel response to a joint interest requirement for a multirole radar system. It will replace technologies that are archaic and reduce the logistics requirements necessary for separate systems. The program falls under the control of Program Executive Office Land Systems (PEO LS) within the Marine Corps Systems Command.
The technology will be released in four increments, beginning with an air surveillance radar that will offer three-dimensional coverage of areas invisible to the AN/TPS-59(V)3 radar. This first increment will replace the AN/TPS-63, AN/MPQ-62 and AN/UPS-3 radars. John McGough, program manager for G/ATOR, calls increment one a “gap filler” because it provides coverage where other radar cannot because of the Earth’s curvature, offering beyond-line-of-sight radar coverage.
The second increment of G/ATOR will add an indirect-fires locating capability. In addition to determining the origin of mortar, artillery and rocket attacks, it can provide target location information to friendly counterfire weapons. It also will aid in damage assessment by offering “did hit” data to friendly weapons systems. Increment two capabilities replace the AN/TPQ-46 radar.
Increment three upgrades the first increment's air mission capabilities and will encompass improvements generally called engineering change proposals, McGough says. The enhancements include advanced combat identification circuitry and software, integration with the Navy/Marine Corps Cooperative Engagement Capability and Composite Tracking Network, and advanced electronic countermeasures.
Increment four features replace the AN/TPS-73 radar and the airport surveillance radar portion of the AN/TPN-31A Air Traffic Navigation Integration and Coordination System Radar. With the implementation of the fourth portion of the project, the Marine Corps eventually will be able to retire its legacy radar systems, operating only the G/ATOR and the AN/TPS-59(V)3.
G/ATOR will operate in the S band (between 2 gigahertz and 4 gigahertz) of the spectrum, encompassing parts of both the ultrahigh frequency and super high frequency. Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, G/ATOR’s prime contractor, selected the S band in the company’s proposal for the work. The Marines determined that the S band option offered the best balance of air surveillance and tracking capabilities.
When constructed, the radar will weigh approximately 8,500 pounds, stand 17 feet tall and revolve in a 360-degree radius. This offers Marines the option of full-circle coverage of airborne threats, or they can use the stationary mode to focus on one specific sector of airspace. The antenna on the system will be flat-faced, or planar. The total system including power sources will be transported behind two M1152 high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles, or Humvees, as a result of the Marines’ experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Offering Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) commanders one integrated asset that they can reallocate as necessary is the major advantage of the new system, McGough says. Leaders can place it where they need it most and move it as the mission requires, fulfilling the needs of an expeditionary fighting force.
Ellie
by Rita Boland
November 17, 2008
ShareThis
The Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) combines five U.S. Marine Corps legacy radars into one, offering enhanced capabilities and reduced operation and maintenance costs to the Corps. The system has a planar antenna and employs active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar technology.
By using this type of state-of-the-art radar technology, the U.S. Marines Corps will have a highly mobile, multipurpose tool that will help commanders track threats in the air and on the ground. The device will address multiple asymmetric threats targeted at troops and offer capabilities necessary for the 21st century battlefield.
The Marine Corps will begin combating enemies with G/ATOR within the next decade, starting with an increment one rollout in 2012. The device’s most important role is air surveillance; the system will offer enhanced capabilities to detect, track and provide target-quality data to engage hostile aircraft, cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), rockets, mortars and artillery. It also has air traffic control functions.
The various functions of G/ATOR combine through the Marines’ air and ground command and control (C2) nodes. The radar will detect its targets and send all the associated information to the C2 systems. The data from G/ATOR will be amalgamated with individual systems and can be integrated at a higher level with other services or passed directly to the joint battlefield.
G/ATOR can operate in multiple modes simultaneously and track more targets because it employs AESA radar technology. Using the AESA on G/ATOR, commanders can run all the radar functions connecting into the Marine Corps’ air C2 node at once.
AESA radars are composed of small transmit/receive modules, and they employ very short scanning rates. G/ATOR’s AESA architecture enables multimission performance as well as the ability to adapt automatically to changing conditions on the battlefield. The system also incorporates a scalable open-system architecture and multinetwork connectivity.
G/ATOR is the Marines’ materiel response to a joint interest requirement for a multirole radar system. It will replace technologies that are archaic and reduce the logistics requirements necessary for separate systems. The program falls under the control of Program Executive Office Land Systems (PEO LS) within the Marine Corps Systems Command.
The technology will be released in four increments, beginning with an air surveillance radar that will offer three-dimensional coverage of areas invisible to the AN/TPS-59(V)3 radar. This first increment will replace the AN/TPS-63, AN/MPQ-62 and AN/UPS-3 radars. John McGough, program manager for G/ATOR, calls increment one a “gap filler” because it provides coverage where other radar cannot because of the Earth’s curvature, offering beyond-line-of-sight radar coverage.
The second increment of G/ATOR will add an indirect-fires locating capability. In addition to determining the origin of mortar, artillery and rocket attacks, it can provide target location information to friendly counterfire weapons. It also will aid in damage assessment by offering “did hit” data to friendly weapons systems. Increment two capabilities replace the AN/TPQ-46 radar.
Increment three upgrades the first increment's air mission capabilities and will encompass improvements generally called engineering change proposals, McGough says. The enhancements include advanced combat identification circuitry and software, integration with the Navy/Marine Corps Cooperative Engagement Capability and Composite Tracking Network, and advanced electronic countermeasures.
Increment four features replace the AN/TPS-73 radar and the airport surveillance radar portion of the AN/TPN-31A Air Traffic Navigation Integration and Coordination System Radar. With the implementation of the fourth portion of the project, the Marine Corps eventually will be able to retire its legacy radar systems, operating only the G/ATOR and the AN/TPS-59(V)3.
G/ATOR will operate in the S band (between 2 gigahertz and 4 gigahertz) of the spectrum, encompassing parts of both the ultrahigh frequency and super high frequency. Northrop Grumman Electronic Systems, G/ATOR’s prime contractor, selected the S band in the company’s proposal for the work. The Marines determined that the S band option offered the best balance of air surveillance and tracking capabilities.
When constructed, the radar will weigh approximately 8,500 pounds, stand 17 feet tall and revolve in a 360-degree radius. This offers Marines the option of full-circle coverage of airborne threats, or they can use the stationary mode to focus on one specific sector of airspace. The antenna on the system will be flat-faced, or planar. The total system including power sources will be transported behind two M1152 high-mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles, or Humvees, as a result of the Marines’ experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Offering Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) commanders one integrated asset that they can reallocate as necessary is the major advantage of the new system, McGough says. Leaders can place it where they need it most and move it as the mission requires, fulfilling the needs of an expeditionary fighting force.
Ellie