$130M in Urgent Support for Firefinder Radars to Pinpoint Enemy Firing Positions
ThalesRaytheonSystems (TRS) Company in Fullerton, CA received a $130 million contract modification to provide spare parts to support the AN/TPQ-36 and AN/TPQ-37 Firefinder weapon-locating radars fielded by the U.S. Army. The modification adds part numbers and increases quantities of critical spare parts to ensure radar readiness for the Army’s weapon locating radars worldwide, including those deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Michael Yon, embedded with 1-24 (“Deuce Four”) in Mosul, offers a recent first hand description of counter-battery radars’ effect on enemy tactics. Indeed, due to the increased operational usage of the Firefinder radars, ThalesRaytheonSystems and CECOM (U.S. Army Communications and Electronics Command) worked closely on an urgent basis to bring this contract to fruition in a very short period of time…
TRS program manager John Coulson also notes that the company is adding second shifts where necessary to boost capacity, and is working diligently with key suppliers to improve deliveries.
This award brings the total value of the contract to more than $220 million. Deliveries began in June 2005 and will continue through December 2007. The Firefinder contract provides for more than 18,500 deliverable spare parts covering more than 150 part-types for both the medium and long-range detection radars.
The TPQ-36 and TPQ-37 radars automatically detect, track and locate enemy mortars, artillery and rocket launchers allowing friendly forces to counterfire with pinpoint accuracy. The TPQ-36 radar is specifically designed to counter medium range enemy weapon systems out to a range of 24 kilometers, while the TPQ-37 can locate longer-range systems and even surface launched missiles out to 50 kilometers. See corporate release.
