Multi-Million Dollar Work To Be Done In El Paso To Upgrade Army Radars
ThalesRaytheonSystems has been awarded a $21.8 million contract by the U.S. Army to upgrade multiple AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel air defense radar systems, according to a news release by the company.
Upgrade work will be done in El Paso and Fullerton, Calif. This award is an option to the existing upgrade contract originally awarded in June 2007.
More than 200 Sentinel radars are currently deployed by military forces worldwide.
The contract will upgrade the U.S. Army Sentinel radar transmitters, receivers and exciters and increase functional capabilities such as faster data processing and greater detection range for smaller targets. Additional capabilities will also help minimize instances of fratricide and accidental counter-missile firing and facilitate a transition to defense-force mobility.
“The latest system enhancements will benefit the warfighter by providing earlier threat detection,” Kim Kerry, chief executive officer, ThalesRaytheonSystems, U.S. Operations, said in a news release. “It will also prepare the Sentinel for future missions such as special events protection, air traffic control and general homeland defense.”
The Sentinel radar is an air surveillance and target acquisition and tracking sensor for the U.S. Army’s Cruise Missile Defense Systems program. The radar’s primary mission is to protect maneuver forces and critical assets from cruise missile, unmanned aerial vehicles, and rotary- and fixed-wing threats. The Sentinel acquires targets far enough forward of friendly troops to provide sufficient reaction time for air defense weapons to engage at optimum ranges, according to the company news release.
Formed nine years ago, ThalesRaytheonSystems is an international company specializing in air defense systems, command and control systems, 3D air defense radars, battlefield and counter-battery radars. The company employs 1,600 people and is equally owned by Raytheon and Thales.
