Lockheed Martin [LMT] has received a new Army contract to deliver 15 of its Q-53 radars, as well as additional deals to continue enhancing the system’s counter-UAS and extended range capabilities, the company said Monday.

The latest full-rate production order for the Q-53, the radar designed to track enemy indirect fire, will bring the Army’s total to 189 systems.

The AN/TPQ-53 radar system. Photo courtesy Lockheed Martin.

 “We realize the warfighter needs new and improved capabilities. The Q-53 represents a fast path to respond to current and emerging threats,” Rick Herodes, Lockheed Martin’s director of the Q-53 program, said in a statement. “The flexibility of the architecture continues to allow the Q-53 to provide capabilities far beyond the original mission and allows for additional upgrades in the future.”

The production order was also awarded along with a contract to enhance Q-53’s CUAS capability with the ability to deliver “simultaneous counterfire, CUAS and air surveillance.” 

Lockheed Martin also received a deal to extend the radar’s operating range using “next-generation technology insertions already available in the radar.”

Last October, Lockheed Martin announced it had received a contract modification to extend the Q-53’s range as part of a full-rate production order (Defense Daily, Oct. 9 2018). 

The Army first fielded the Q-53 in 2010, and has used the advanced electronically-scanned array (AESA) radar, which can operate in 90- or 360-degree modes, to protect troops in combat by detecting and tracking enemy indirect fire threats such as artillery, mortars, or rockets.