By B.C. Kessner
Northrop Grumman [NOC] last week said it has successfully completed of service-level testing and field user evaluation for the Marine Corps Mobile Tactical Air Operations Module (MTAOM) command and control system.
“The MTAOM hardware baseline with modern software will be integrated into the Common Aviation Command and Control System Phase 1 Increment 1 baseline,” the company wrote last week in an e-mail to Defense Daily. “Northrop Grumman will be prepared to demonstrate the CAC2S Sensor Data Subsystem Technology within 8 months of contract award.”
The company’s Navigation Systems Division has supported the Marine Corps with aviation command and control systems for more than 20 years with the Tactical Air Operations Module (TAOM) TYQ-23. It recently re-engineered that technology using commercial off the shelf (COTS) hardware into a highly expeditionary Mobile TOAM system that the Marine Corps is fielding today.
“The MTAOM brings state of the art command and control information to warfighters anywhere they need it,” Ike Song, vice president of situational awareness systems at Northrop Grumman’s Navigation Systems Division, said in a statement. “[It] helps ensure users have the tactical aviation command and control information they require to integrate seamlessly into the joint operating environment and control the battlespace.”
The MTAOM, integrated by Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane Division, features a suite of highly mobile components delivered in 2009 by Northrop Grumman’s Navigation Systems Division, including AYK-14 Replacement Computers (ARC), Multi-Radar Tracker (MRT) processors, and Tactical Data Link support units.
The computing center of the MTAOM is a five-ounce ARC circuit card developed by Northrop Grumman to replace a 70-pound, 1980s-era Military Standard computer while providing the full capability of a modern command and control system in a compact, modular package.
Development of these key components by Northrop Grumman made the MTAOM possible, the company said.
Mounted in a standard S-788 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) shelter, the MTAOM coupled with the MRQ-12 Communications Interface System includes the complete capabilities of the Marine Corps’ legacy TYQ-23 plus the ability to incorporate and fuse Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and other commercial radar inputs.
Northrop Grumman offers complete tactical aviation command and control capabilities through the Modular Control and Reporting Platform (MCRP), an inclusive, highly transportable tactical system featuring the ARC and MRT.
The MRT is a fully integrated, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS)-based, open architecture radar tracking and sensor fusion system.
This new design is the latest generation of the TYQ-23 radar tracking product line that is deployed worldwide by the Air Force, the Marine Corps, and international air forces.
Thales-Raytheon Systems Co. LLC, a U.S. company, recently said it is leading an industry team to respond to the Marine Corps’ CAC2S request for proposal (Defense Daily, Sept. 30).
CAC2S is a PEO Land Systems program slated to undergo a Milestone C decision, determining if it will enter into low-rate-initial production, in November or December (Defense Daily, Sept. 28).