Skip to main content

MP-RTIP Radar Program Moves Forward

The Electronic Systems Center's Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program recently reached a significant milestone when the sensor and first software baseline were delivered to Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., for the next step -- integration on a Global Hawk aircraft.

MP-RTIP increases warfighters' situational awareness through improved radar imagery. Flight testing up to this point has been performed in Mojave, Calif., on a scaled composites test bed aircraft, known as "Proteus." A total of 259 test flights were completed, with 1,062 hours of radar "on" time.

"We have made significant progress in the development of the sensor and are pleased with its performance," said Col. Jim Shaw, the MP-RTIP program director. "The ground moving target indicator and synthetic aperture radar dedicated modes are working, and we are ready to move into the next phase of system test."
"Dedicated modes" refers to GMTI and SAR functioning independently and serially. "Concurrent modes" refers to GMTI and SAR running simultaneously. The software delivered to the Global Hawk program includes concurrent mode functionality. Nine additional contractor development tests and evaluation flights on Proteus are planned to continue to improve the performance of concurrent radar modes.
It has been "technically challenging" to get the concurrent modes up and running, Colonel Shaw said. Concurrent modes ensure that warfighters can collect SAR data without interrupting GMTI tracks.
"We are giving the warfighter improved capabilities," he said.
MP-RTIP capability was operationally demonstrated for the Army during a recent ground exercise at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif. The MP-RTIP sensor was flown to demonstrate its unique capabilities in an operationally relevant environment.
"Several members of the Operations Group at the NTC were pretty happy with what they saw," Colonel Shaw said.
After the concurrent mode testing is completed, the MP-RTIP team at the ESC will move into a support role, and the Global Hawk Program Office at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio, will have the lead. The ESC team was responsible for system design and development, and MP-RTIP is now moving to integration and test on a Global Hawk aircraft.
"We have done a lot of work to lessen any risks associated with the integration to Global Hawk," the colonel said. "It's designed to be a seamless transition."
As the ground integration and flight testing on Global Hawk is scheduled to occur in the near future, the ESC government and contractor teams will be engaged throughout the entire process, providing detailed insight into radar operations and performance.
"A lot of great people have put a lot of great work into this program to get us to this point," Colonel Shaw said. "We wouldn't have been able to get here without their dedication."





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pakistani JF-17 A Thunder OR A Blunder

Pakistan has witnessed new defense acquisitions in this decade than any other, and in the center of it all is the new fighter which was designed by China with partial funding from Pakistan. It is formally known as JF-17 Thunder. When the fighter was in development, Pakistani online communities were jumping with excitement comparing it with its arch rival India’s modern combatants Su-30MKI, Mig-29S & Mirage-2000H. There were claims of it featuring western Radars and long range missiles, & Chinese ordering some due to its superior capabilities. But the reality is far from it. China having spent significant amount of money into a fighter which it is never going to use, most probably forced Pakistan to accept its avionics to offset some its development costs. Chinese who are known for their self reliance first and quality next, are further downgrading JF-17s capabilities with their poorly copy-pirated avionics. Along with their dubious weapons, any chance of JF...
48 comments
READ MORE

India Planned Attack On Pak Navy Mehran Base To Kill Chinese Engineers

The terrorist attack on Karachi's Mehran Naval Station on May 22 was conceived and launched by India with the primary objective of killing the Chinese engineers present there, a Pakistani newspaper has claimed, citing 'informed sources'. Four to six Taliban terrorists had entered PNS Mehran on May 22, destroying two maritime surveillance aircraft and killing ten military personnel during their 17-hour siege of the naval air base. "India is the only country in the region that feels troubled by the Pakistan Navy, which had awfully beaten the Indian Navy in Operation Dwarka of 1965. Since then, it has been an earnest desire of India to harm the Pakistan Navy but it was perhaps not possible on the battle front, hence it struck the PNS Mehran," The News quoted sources as saying.
23 comments
READ MORE

Pakistani F-16s Shoot Down RAF Eurofighter Typhoons During Air Combat Exercises In Turkey

Pakistani pilots flying modernised versions of the 1970s-vintage F-16 Falcon fighter have beaten the RAF's brand-new Eurofighter Typhoon superfighters during air combat exercises in Turkey, according to a Pakistani officer. Analysis: The RAF Typhoon, formerly known as the Eurofighter, should nonetheless have been vastly superior in air-to-air combat whether BVR or close in within visual range (WVR). The cripplingly expensive, long-delayed Eurofighter was specifically designed to address the defects of its predecessor the Tornado F3 – famously almost useless in close-in, dogfighting-style air combat. The Typhoon was meant to see off such deadly in-close threats as Soviet "Fulcrums" and "Flankers" using short-range missiles fired using helmet-mounted sight systems: such planes were thought well able to beat not just Tornados but F-16s in close fighting, and this expectation was borne out after the Cold War when the Luftwaffe inherite...
18 comments
READ MORE