Army orders more STARLite UAS radars

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ROLLING MEADOWS, Ill., Sept. 24 (UPI) -- A contract option for additional Northrop Grumman STARLite wide-area surveillance radars for unmanned aerial systems has been exercised by the U.S. Army.

Under the option, Northrop will deliver 44 STARLite systems starting in April and ending in March 2014. The monetary value of the additional systems wasn't disclosed but Northrop said that with the option the total number of the systems ordered is 174.

"This order reaffirms the Army's confidence in STARLite's exceptional reliability, which has far exceeded specifications during its deployment," said Steve McCoy, vice president for tactical sensor solutions at Northrop Grumman. "STARLite's record of performance means warfighters on the ground can count on it to provide the airborne intelligence they need in critical situations."

The AN/ZPY-1 STARLite features synthetic aperture radar, ground moving target indicator and dismount moving target indicator capabilities. It is the Army radar program of record for the MQ-1C Gray Eagle UAS. It has also been demonstrated on the Army's Persistent Threat Detection Systems aerostat.