Northrop Grumman and the U.S. Marine Corps Program Executive Officer for Land Systems demonstrated the AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) system to senior Department of Defense leaders at the Pentagon on Oct. 5 and 6.

Currently in test at the company's Electronic Systems sector headquarters in Baltimore performing live aircraft detection and tracking, G/ATOR is the first ground-based, multi-role radar to be developed for the U.S. Department of Defense.

With its ability to intelligently and adaptively allocate its myriad sensor capabilities, G/ATOR is able to detect and track a wide variety of threats, including manned aircraft, cruise missiles and unmanned autonomous systems, as well as mortar, rocket and artillery rounds.

"G/ATOR will replace five legacy Marine Corps ground-based radars with significantly advanced operational capabilities and enhanced mobility, reliability, and most importantly, operational availability, while simultaneously providing large reductions in operating, maintenance and overall life-cycle costs," said Jeff Palombo, vice president and general manager of Northrop Grumman's Land and Self Protection Systems Division.

"G/ATOR's scalable, modular open system architecture design enables additional enhancements via software-only updates for potential use by additional military services."

G/ATOR's subsystems include the Radar Equipment Group (REG), the Communications Equipment Group (CEG) and the Power Equipment Group (PEG). The heart of the AN/TPS-80 G/ATOR system, the REG, consists of the advanced Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) antenna and all associated control and processing electronics mounted on a lightweight tactical trailer.

The G/ATOR contract was awarded to Northrop Grumman in early 2007 by the Marine Corps Systems Command. The program is managed by the Marine Corps' Program Executive Officer for Land Systems in Quantico, Va. The program's principal subcontractors are Saab-Sensis, Curtiss Wright and Moog Industries.