The Marine Corps has finished the operational assessment of its Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar and is moving toward a Milestone C decision in the next couple months to send the product into low-rate initial production.

Program manager Lee Bond said the past 18 months of testing proved the system could fit seamlessly into the Marine Corps’ existing portfolio of platforms and out-perform the five legacy systems it is meant to replace. In the spring, G/ATOR attended a Weapons and Tactics Instructor course exercise in Yuma, Ariz., as an observer. During the exercise, in which a Marine Air Combat Element brings all its ground control systems and Marine aviation units come out to simulate friendly and enemy activity, there was a day in which all the legacy radars being used experienced various problems, Bond said on Dec. 4 at a demonstration at the Pentagon.

“Suddenly, G/ATOR was the only radar ready for tasking,” he said. “So they came to us and said, can you take over?…We said, if you’re willing to take that risk, we’re willing to step up.”

Bond said that when it came time to plan the fall WTI exercise, the Marines did not hesitate to include G/ATOR from the start.

“They said, you may still technically be a developmental system, but this is the best radar we’ve ever had in this exercise, so you’re going to be a primary player from day one,” Bond said.

Between the spring and fall testing, the Marine Corps and contractor Northrop Grumman [NOC] improved the software to address stability issues. Much like a computer slows down and needs to be rebooted sometimes, G/ATOR wasn’t properly stabilized.

“Functionally, everything was working right,” Bond added.

During the spring exercise, the system experienced problems every few hours, and now it only happens every few days, he said.

The program is also working on its Block II software even though Block I hasn’t made it to LRIP yet. The initial software package supports air surveillance and air defense–against manned and unmanned platforms and cruise missiles–and the follow-on software will add in a ground-defense capability effective against artillery and rockets.

The Block II software will take about two years to develop and should be ready for fielding by the time the first batch of hardware is ready to deliver to the Marine Corps. Eventually, the Marine Corps plans to buy 45 radars and add an air traffic control function, Bond said during a brief presentation to Pentagon employees.

The Marine Corps and Northrop Grumman each had one system to use during testing. Earlier this year, Northrop Grumman decided to use its own funding to test the radar against ballistic missile threats, proving it could detect multiple rocket launches at Wallops Island, Va.

“We view that as part of a future potential need by the Air Force, the Marine Corps and other services as well to monitor ballistic missiles as they are launched–quick detection, rapid identification, where they came from,” said Mike Meaney, Northrop Grumman’s director of ground-based tactical radars. He added that the company’s G/ATOR system was used to reduce risk on the program by conducting environmental testing, helicopter-lift testing and more, and that the company could continue to use its system going forward to add on new capabilities that any of the services may be interested in.