The contract will provide the necessary spare part support to increase radar readiness for the Army's weapon locating radars worldwide to include those deployed in current operating theaters.
The Firefinder contract provides for 3,500 deliverable spare parts covering more than 100 part types for both the medium and long range detection radars. Deliveries will begin in December 2004 and continue through April 2008.
Due to the increased operational usage of the Firefinder radars, ThalesRaytheonSystems and CECOM (U.S. Army Communications and Electronics Command) worked closely on an urgent basis to bring this contract to fruition in a very short period of time.
ThalesRaytheonSystems and its supplier base have placed a high priority on this spare parts program to ensure the "Eyes of the Artillery" continue to meet the Army's operational needs.
The TPQ-36 and TPQ-37 radars automatically detect, track and locate enemy mortars, artillery and rocket launchers allowing friendly forces to engage the hostile targets with pinpoint accuracy.
The TPQ-36 radar is specifically designed to counter medium range enemy weapon systems out to a range of 24 kilometers while the TPQ-37 can locate longer range systems, to include surface launched missiles, out to 50 kilometers.