AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder radar

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Hughes AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder Weapon Locating System is a mobile radar system developed by Hughes Aircraft Company and manufactured by Northrop Grumman and ThalesRaytheonSystems. The system is a "weapon-locating radar", designed to detect and track incoming artillery and rocket fire to determine the point of origin for counterbattery fire. It is currently in service at brigade and higher levels in the United States Army, United States Marine Corps and Australian Army. The radar is typically trailer mounted and towed by a Humvee.

Upgrades[]

Firefinder (V)8 extends system performance, improves operator survivability and lowers life cycle cost. Greater processing power and the addition of a low noise amplifier to the radar antenna improves detection range (by up to 50%) and performance accuracy against certain threats.

Operations/Maintainers[]

The AN/TPQ-36 is an electronically steered radar, meaning the radar antenna does not actually move while in operation. The radar antenna may however be moved manually if required. The system may also be operated in a friendly fire mode to determine the accuracy of counterbattery return fire, or for conducting radar registration or mean point of impact calibrations for friendly artillery. Capabilities

Locates mortars, artillery, and rocket launchers
Locates 10 weapons simultaneously
Locates targets on first round
Performs high-burst, datum-plane, and impact registrations
Adjusts friendly fire
Interfaces with tactical fire
Predicts impact of hostile projectiles

Specifications

Maximum range: 24 km
Effective range

Artillery: 18 km
Rockets: 24 km

Azimuth sector: 90°
Frequency: X-band, 32 frequencies
Prime power: 115/200 VAC, 400 Hz, 3-phase, 8 kW
Peak transmitted power: 23 kW, min.

Features

Permanent storage for 99 targets
Field exercise mode
Digital data interface

Manufacturers[]

Northrop Grumman manufactures the AN/TPQ-36(V)8 Firefinder radar. Before acquisition by Raytheon, the Hughes Aircraft Co. developed the AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder radar at its Fullerton, California facility, and manufactures it at its Forest, Mississippi plant.

Nomenclature[]

Per the Joint Electronics Type Designation System (JETDS), the nomenclature AN/TPQ-36 is thus derived:

"AN/" indicating Army/Navy(Marines)--a system nomenclature derived from the JETDS.
"T" for 'transportable', indicating it is carried by a vehicle but is not an integral part of said vehicle (compare with 'V' for vehicle-mounted).
"P" indicating a position finder (RADAR).
"Q" for a special-purpose(multipurpose) radar, in this case counterbattery.
"36" is the 36'th version of this family, of TPQ radars.

References[]

External links[]

Product Description for AN/TPQ-36(V)8 from Northrop Grumman
Product Description for AN/TPQ-36 from ThalesRaytheonSystems
TPQ-36 Radar Data Sheet from ThalesRaytheonSystems
Fact sheet for the AN/TPQ-36 from Raytheon
ROCS new upgrades for TPQ-36/37 from BES Systems
Fact file for the AN/TPQ-36 from GlobalSecurity.org

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