Lockheed Martin announced today that it has been selected to provide a Tactical Reconnaissance and Counter- Concealment Enabled Radar (TRACER) capability to the United States Army. Under this contract, Lockheed Martin will work with the Army to incorporate low frequency synthetic aperture radar systems into Predator class unmanned aerial vehicles. The total value of the TRACER contract is approximately $40M.

"Lockheed Martin looks forward to working with the Army's Intelligence & Information Warfare Directorate to demonstrate this much needed capability," said John Mengucci, president of Mission & Combat Support Solutions for Lockheed Martin's Information Solutions & Global Services business area. "By migrating this advanced synthetic aperture radar technology to UAVs and other platforms, TRACER will be a key asset in combating the global war on terrorism." Mengucci added that Lockheed's continued development in sensor technology follows the roadmap to smaller, more flexible and more powerful sensors to meet the ever growing demand for UAV intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems that provide warfighters with unique tactical data in real-time.

Work on the TRACER program includes the development, integration and test of two VHF/UHF dual-band synthetic aperture radar systems, which will be integrated into Predator class unmanned aerial vehicles. These dual-band synthetic aperture radars can provide images to ground units in all-weather, day or night conditions and incorporate a data link that allows processed results to be downlinked to ground stations immediately. The workscope includes upgrading the associated ground stations that provide the mission planning and image exploitation. All work on these high technology radar systems will be done at Lockheed Martin's Phoenix, Arizona, facility over the duration of the 32-month program.

TRACER addresses the Army's critical need to identify hidden targets, enemy equipment and facilities. The system's design is predicated on the corporation's proven foliage penetration (FOPEN) technology, which was developed specifically to detect vehicles, buildings, and large metallic objects in broad areas of dense foliage, forested areas and wooded terrain. Developed under the sponsorship of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force in the late 1990's, the FOPEN system has successfully flown hundreds of missions.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2006 sales of $39.6 billion.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin