Northrop Grumman Completes G/ATOR Block II Preliminary, Critical Design Reviews

Northrop Grumman has completed preliminary and critical design reviews in developing the Ground Weapon Locating Radar (GWLR) mode for the AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar (G/ATOR).

The GWLR preliminary design review in February and critical design review in August marked the completion of the design reviews for the development of this capability, the company announced Tuesday.

These reviews will be followed by an initial integration event (IIE) in October to perform initial testing of the system and take data on several targets to assist in the remaining integration work.

The IIE will be an initial demonstration of G/ATOR's ability to detect and track multiple types of rocket, artillery and mortar rounds simultaneously.

G/ATOR has an output power advantage compared to current US counter-fire target acquisition radars, equating directly to longer-range threat detection and tracking. This provides additional time to successfully engage and negate these threats with both current and future longer-range engagement weapons.

"It is critical that we deliver this capability to our warfighters on time and at an affordable cost," said Roshan Roeder, director, mission solutions, Northrop Grumman.

The GWLR mode adds software to the G/ATOR system to detect, track, and identify rocket, artillery, and mortar projectiles, both 360-degree and sector-only. The GWLR mode addresses multiple types of simultaneous threats.