The Lockheed Martin AN/TPQ-53 counter-battery radar system. (Lockheed Martin)
Programme officials at Lockheed Martin are exploring the development of a multimission variant of the AN/TPQ-53 counter-fire radar as part of a larger effort to introduce a slew of technology and capability upgrades into the legacy ground radar platform.
Company officials are exploring potential “digital enhancements” to the AN/TPQ-53, including the possible multimission variant, as a way to fulfil the growing demands of the international market for the counter-fire radar, said Chandra Marshall, vice-president of radar and sensor systems at Lockheed Martin.
The AN/TPQ-53 is “deemed as a key enabler in the mission space for long-range, precision fires and air and missile defence,” Marshall said during a briefing ahead of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) 2022 conference in Washington, DC.
“We have already sold to some international customers and we have increased interest across the board,” she added, declining to mention which countries had recently procured the system. Romania, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore are currently the only three foreign armed forces that field the AN/TPQ-53.
The decision to pursue a multimission variant of the radar was driven by a growing demand signal for the capability, both domestically and from international customers.
“We basically have an increased interest for [AN/TPQ-53] multimission radar capabilities,” Marshall said. Programme officials have conducted “some demonstrations to prove out that capability”, but she declined to provide details on those demonstrations or what a multimission variant could look like.
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