Military Drones Tracking Software – Critical and Urgent Need

This post is also available in: עברית (Hebrew)

The US Army has issued a sources-sought notice for a software to expand the versatility of mobile radar to track threats posed by military drones.

According to UAS Vision, more and more adversaries are adding armed drones to their roster of military capabilities. The U.S. Army is responding with a plan to equip existing AN/TPQ-53 mobile radar systems with new software that can detect, classify and track enemy drones.

A highly mobile system built by Lockheed Martin, the AN/TPQ-53 can be airlifted to conflict areas and trucked into battle zones by tactical vehicles. The system’s main function is to detect mortar, artillery and rocket fire.

Army officials want an updated software system that maintains all the current functionality of the AN/TPQ-53 while adding the ability to field threats from unmanned aerial systems. The new software, required in a “critical and urgent” way, should not require additional personnel to operate.

The Army wants to be able to test the new functionality during 2017 and be ready for a formal capabilities and limitations assessment in January 2018, with an eye to having an updated system in place by June 2018.