U.S. Army Asks Lockheed to Test New Modular Active Protection System

The U.S. Army has asked Lockheed Martin to test its combat vehicle protection system intended protect warfighters from a variety of anti-armor threats.

Under the terms of a recent contract, the company will provide its Modular Active Protection System (MAPS) base kit, which includes an open-architecture processor that integrates vehicle sensors and countermeasures in a common framework to detect, track and defeat rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank guided missiles.

Lockheed Martin partnered with the U.S. Army in 2014 to develop MAPS as a safe and secure vehicle defense system. Since then, the MAPS base kit has participated in multiple live-fire demonstrations.

“We’re ready to support integration and testing on a variety of Army combat vehicles, the final step before the Army makes a formal decision on fielding this capability,” said David Rohall, program manager for Advanced Ground Vehicle Systems at Lockheed Martin.

Under the 36-month contract, Lockheed Martin will deliver five production-ready base kits with an option for up to 20, and support Army integration and testing on Abrams, Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicle, Bradley and Stryker vehicles. The contract also covers developing base kit support for vehicle protection capabilities beyond active protection, such as underbelly blast protection.

Lockheed Martin’s MAPS base kit supports the rapid integration of MAPS-compliant sensors and countermeasures. It is designed to protect current combat vehicles and support future vehicle protection system capabilities.