BALTIMORE, Sept. 06, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) received an award from the U.S. Marine Corps for an additional nine AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) low rate initial production (LRIP) systems.
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These nine additional systems and all subsequent G/ATOR systems incorporate advanced Gallium Nitride (GaN) technology, providing the Marine Corps with nearly $2 million in life cycle cost savings per system. GaN technology also provides a number of performance benefits including lower input power needs, higher efficiency and higher output power. This higher output power can substantially increase threat detection and tracking ranges for all four G/ATOR mission capabilities: air surveillance, weapon cueing, counter-fire target acquisition and air traffic control. Northrop Grumman is already on contract to provide six G/ATOR LRIP systems, the first of which will be delivered in February 2017.
“There are no other GaN ground-based active electronically scanned array (AESA) radars in production today,” said Roshan Roeder, director, mission solutions, Northrop Grumman. “G/ATOR is the first DoD ground-based AESA system to incorporate GaN in a production program. We proposed this technology as a cost savings measure for the government and funded risk reduction internally to ensure a seamless insertion into the G/ATOR system. We are continuing to look at future technology insertions to continue providing the best capability out there to our warfighters at an affordable cost.”
Northrop Grumman is a leader in the development of AESA radar systems and is also on contract to develop and test high-performance, short- and medium-range radars for additional DoD ground- and ship-based applications. The company's family of ground radar systems includes the AN/APG-83 Highly Adaptable Multi-Mission Radar (HAMMR) AESA system as well as the solid-state AN/TPS-78 and TPS-703 radar systems.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in autonomous systems, cyber, C4ISR, strike, and logistics and modernization to customers worldwide. Please visit www.northropgrumman.com for more information.