BALTIMORE, April 9 (UPI) -- Development testing of Northrop Grumman's AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar system for the U.S. Marine Corps is moving forward, the company said.
The G/ATOR, the first ground-based, multi-mission radar to be developed for the U.S. Department of Defense, has completed two phases of government developmental testing at the Surface Combat Systems Center in Wallops Island, Va., and is now entering a new series of tests before undergoing an operational assessment by the U.S. Marine Corps.
"The AN/TPS-80 G/ATOR system performed well under the most challenging conditions during these tests, validating the power and flexibility of its open systems architecture," said Steve McCoy, vice president for tactical sensor solutions at Northrop Grumman. "We anticipate another strong performance as G/ATOR enters its next phase of government testing and moves toward operational service with the Marine Corps."
In the tests, the AN/TPS-80 detected and tracked a variety of targets, including fixed-wing aircraft, helicopters and unmanned autonomous systems at varying altitudes that followed crossing, converging and diverging flight paths in a littoral clutter environment.
A prospective time frame for the Marines' operational assessment was not given.
