G/ATOR deal for Northrop

The US Marine Corps has awarded

$256.6m to develop its new Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR). G/ATOR consolidates the missions of five Marine Corps radars into a single radar system.

The scope of work during this first program phase includes system development, fabrication and test of the Increment I system, low rate initial production of two G/ATOR systems and full-rate production of an additional 15 systems, and logistics support.

According to Northrop Grumman, G/ATOR is a highly mobile system intended to fully support the US Marine Corps' expeditionary warfare requirements. The new radar system will provide the Marines with enhanced capabilities to detect, track, and provide target quality data to engage hostile aircraft, cruise missiles, unmanned air vehicles, rockets, mortars, and artillery. G/ATOR will also provide air traffic control capabilities to enhance the safety of Marine Corps air operations.

G/ATOR will enable enhanced operational capabilities using Northrop Grumman's Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) radar technology. This AESA architecture will allow G/ATOR to provide multi-mission performance and the ability to automatically adapt to battlefield conditions, at lower operation and maintenance costs compared to existing radar systems. G/ATOR incorporates a scaleable open system architecture and multi-network connectivity to ensure compatibility with US Navy, other Department of Defense and allied command and control systems.