SYRACUSE, N.Y., the USA (BulgarianMilitary.com) – Lockheed Martin announced earlier this week, on 8th October 2018, that the Company has received a contract from the U.S. Army to insert Gallium Nitride (GaN) into the AN/TPQ-53 (Q-53) radar as part of the full rate production configuration, learned BulgarianMilitary.com

The director of the Q-53 program at Lockheed Martin Rick Herodes commented, “Lockheed Martin is proud the Army is adding Q-53 to our family of fielded GaN based radars,” and added, “This modification takes advantage of our broad experience with radar production and next generation radar development experience coupled with Lockheed Martin’s continuous investment in GaN and other radar technologies. This update enables Q-53 mission growth for changing Army needs. We realize how critical it is to enhance the capabilities of the Q-53 so it can be responsive to the evolving operational demands and emerging threats our deployed troops face every day.”

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The Q-53 is the most advanced radar belonging to the U.S. Army inventory. It features a flexible architecture to address aircraft, drone and other threats in the future. The major mission of the multi-mission Q-53 radar is to protect troops in combat through detecting, classifying, tracking and identifying the location of enemy indirect fire in 360 or 90-degree modes. The Q-53 is mounted on a five-ton truck and allows rapidly deployment, automatic levelling, after which it is operated remotely or from a command vehicle with a laptop computer. The radar is software defined allowing for quick adjustment to address emerging Army capability needs for air surveillance and counter fire target acquisition. The Q-53 has been in operation around the world protecting warfighters since 2010. The works on the system are executed at the facilities of the company in New York, New Jersey and Florida.

The transition to GaN will give the Q-53 additional power for capabilities such as long-range counterfire target acquisition. GaN has the added benefit of increasing system reliability and reducing lifecycle ownership costs.

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Source: Lockheed Martin