. Military Space News .
MILTECH
MEADS Radar Completes Rotation Tests

Under development by Germany, Italy and the United States, MEADS is a mobile system that will replace Patriot in the United States and Nike Hercules in Italy. It will replace Patriot and the retired Hawk system in Germany. The system is designed to permit full interoperability between the U.S. and allied forces, and it is the only medium-range air defense system to provide full 360-degree coverage.
by Staff Writers
Orlando FL (SPX) Feb 02, 2011
The Medium Extended Air Defense System (MEADS) program has successfully completed milestone tests as the first Multifunction Fire Control Radar (MFCR) advances toward system tests this year at Pratica di Mare air force base in Italy.

The advanced MEADS X-band MFCR employs active phased array technology using transmit/receive modules developed in Germany. The radar provides precision tracking and wideband discrimination and classification. It also incorporates advanced identification-friend-or-foe (IFF) sensors with improved capabilities to identify and type threats.

MEADS radars are designed to protect troops and assets on today's 360-degree battlefield, where threats can attack from any direction. Sectored, piecemeal systems cannot defend assets completely because the direction of a missile attack is no longer certain in today's asymmetrical battlefield. Even small slivers of unprotected airspace put warfighters in danger.

The MFCR subteam at LFK in Germany completed integration of the antenna array last year, clearing the way for assembly-level testing of the Transceiver Group.

Coolant pressure testing was completed, and cooling distribution was demonstrated at the slip ring and antenna rotary joint. Final rotation tests at both 15 and 30 rpm were successfully completed.

MEADS International President Dave Berganini said, "The entire MEADS team is proud to see our first system elements moving to the test range. The first battle manager and launcher moved to the test range in Italy in December to initiate system tests. The MFCR will join them shortly. We are on the path to flight tests at White Sands in 2012."

NAMEADSMA General Manager Gregory Kee said, "MEADS radars scan the complete perimeter to locate threats quickly and accurately. The X-band MFCR will improve target tracking and provide better performance in stressing clutter environments."

In August 2010, the MEADS program completed an extensive series of Critical Design Review events with a Summary Critical Design Review at MEADS International in Orlando, FL. The program is now completing final build, integration and test activities leading to flight tests involving all system elements at White Sands Missile Range in 2012.

Under development by Germany, Italy and the United States, MEADS is a mobile system that will replace Patriot in the United States and Nike Hercules in Italy. It will replace Patriot and the retired Hawk system in Germany. The system is designed to permit full interoperability between the U.S. and allied forces, and it is the only medium-range air defense system to provide full 360-degree coverage.

MEADS will meet challenging new requirements not addressed by any previous or planned Air and Missile Defense system. The system will combine superior battlefield protection with extensive flexibility, allowing it to protect maneuver forces and critical assets against tactical ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, unmanned aerial vehicles and aircraft.

It also provides an open architecture for 21st century air and missile defense system-of-system integration capabilities that allow operational mission-tailoring. MEADS is designed to provide greater firepower with less manpower than current systems, producing dramatic operation and support cost savings.

MEADS International, a multinational joint venture headquartered in Orlando, FL, is the prime contractor for MEADS. Major subcontractors and joint venture partners are MBDA in Italy, LFK in Germany and Lockheed Martin in the United States. Today, 1,800 employees from these companies are completing development of MEADS, which is closely watched as a model program for collaborative transatlantic development.

The United States funds 58 percent of the MEADS program, and European partners Germany and Italy provide 25 percent and 17 percent respectively as partners in the NATO Medium Extended Air Defense System Management Organization (NAMEADSMO). Its program management agency NAMEADSMA is located in Huntsville, AL.



Share This Article With Planet Earth
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit
YahooMyWebYahooMyWeb GoogleGoogle FacebookFacebook



Related Links
-
The latest in Military Technology for the 21st century at SpaceWar.com



Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News


MILTECH
LockMart Receives Contract For High Mobility Artillery Rocket System
Dallas TX (SPX) Feb 02, 2011
Lockheed Martin has received a $139.6 million contract to provide 44 combat-proven High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) to the U.S. Army. This order will increase the Army's HIMARS launcher fleet to 375, with deliveries continuing through January 2013. Work on the contract will be performed at the company's facilities in Camden, AR, and Grand Prairie, TX. "HIMARS brings soldiers ... read more







MILTECH
Boeing And Northrop Grumman Submit Proposal For Missile Defense Competitive Contract

NATO Achieves First Step On TBMD Capability

LockMart-Raytheon Team Submits Proposal For GMD Contract

Aegis BMD System Completes Tracking Exercise

MILTECH
Raytheon nabs $145 million deal in Kuwait

Kuwait Awards Contract To Raytheon For Patriot GEM-T Missiles

LockMart Receives Contract For Long Range Anti-Ship Missile Demonstrations

S. Korea, U.S in talks over missiles

MILTECH
UA Engineers Study Birds And Bees To Design Robust Unmanned Vehicles

AeroVironment Receives Order For Raven UAS Digital Module Upgrade Kits

New US drone spy cameras fail Air Force test: study

Three US drone strikes kill 13 in Pakistan

MILTECH
Boeing Tests New Ka-band SATCOM Antenna System

Raytheon to supply radios to Aussie army

RAF Begin Training With US On Intelligence Aircraft

Joint STARS Successfully Supports JSuW JCTD

MILTECH
Raytheon Awarded APY-10 Radar Contract For Boeing's P-8A Aircraft

LEMV Program Completes Critical Design Review

Multi-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar Counters IEDs

Boeing And iRobot Team Delivers First SUGVs To USAF

MILTECH
Israeli army battles generals' scandals

Boeing to revise tanker bid pitch

Kaveri engine set for Indian combat plane

Brazil reassessing options on arms deal

MILTECH
Few regrets in ex-US defense chief's memoir

Clinton to join security talks in Germany

US says willing to assist India-China dialogue

US eyes more Asian defense talks

MILTECH
'Air laser' could find bombs at a distance

ONR Achieves Milestone In Free Electron Laser Program

US Office Of Naval Research Achieves Milestone

Navy test fires electromagnetic cannon


The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement