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AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel

The AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel provides persistent air surveillance and fire control quality data through command and control systems to defeat Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS), cruise missiles and fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft threats. The AN/MPQ-64 radar entered service in 1995 as a system consisting of an X-band radar mounted on a high mobility trailer and an HMMWV prime mover, equipped with a 30kW generator. The vehicle was not armored, as it was originally intended as a rear-echelon asset in a linear fight.

The system features an X-Band, 360-degree phased array air defense radar with a 75-km instrumented range. It is equipped with Electronic Counter-Counter-Measure capabilities, a Mode 5 Identification Friend or Foe subsystem for positive identification of friendly aircraft, and Non-Cooperative Target Recognition capabilities to identify threat aircraft. Sentinel is trailer-mounted, pulled by either a High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle or an M1082 Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles truck. The system generator with a command and control interface is mounted on the vehicle.

Sentinel interfaces with the Integrated Air and Missile Defense (IAMD) Battle Command System architecture, the Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control System, and the National Capital Region Integrated Air Defense Command and Control System. Sentinel also interfaces with the Counter-Rocket, Artillery, Mortar (C-RAM) Increment I system to protect friendly aircraft during engagement of incoming indirect fire.

The enhanced position location reporting system (EPLRS) is the primary data distribution system for forward area air defense C2 weapon systems. The typical short-range air defense battalion uses EPLRS to establish a data network that interconnects the airspace C2, air battle management operations center, C2 nodes, platoon and section headquarters, and individual weapons systems. It passes the air picture and weapons control orders down, and then sends the weapons systems status back up through the system. The extended air picture received from air and missile defense units, and E-3A Sentry/AWACSs, are fused with the air picture received from the AN/MPQ-64, Sentinel, filtered at the forward area air defense C2 node for specific geographical areas of interest, and broadcast to all subscribers.

The Army is acquiring Initial Maneuver Short-Range Air Defense (IM-SHORAD) in response to a 2018 Directed Requirement to provide a short-range air defense capability in support of Operation Atlantic Resolve. The IM-SHORAD system of systems integrates Stinger and Longbow HELLFIRE missile interceptors onto a Reconfigurable Integrated Weapons Platform (RiWP) with a 30-mm cannon, 7.62x39 coaxial machine gun, and electro-optical sight system. The system includes a Multi-Hemispheric Radar (MHR) to provide onboard sensing capabilities. The RiWP and MHR combined are the Mission Equipment Package, which is mounted to a Stryker Double-V Hull A1. IM-SHORAD uses Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control.

Each IM-SHORAD Stryker vehicle is an independent fire unit. IM-SHORAD platoons consist of four vehicles. IM-SHORAD battalions include 36 vehicles, broken into 3 batteries, each with 3 platoons. Each IM-SHORAD battery has a single AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar as its primary sensor.

On 13 October 2016 the State Department made a determination approving a possible Foreign Military Sale to Kuwait for radar field systems and related equipment, training, and support. The estimated cost is $194 million. The Government of Kuwait requested a limited competition between three (3) U.S. vendors to procure a total of six (6) Short Range, Gap Filler Radars (e.g., AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel F1, AN/TPS-77, or AN/TPS- 703) and one (1) Long Range Radar (e.g., AN/TPS-77 or AN/TPS-78). Only one of the radars under consideration, the AN/MPQ-64 is Major Defense Equipment (MDE). The remaining radars identified by Kuwait for consideration are non-MDE.

AN/MPQ-64 A3 Enhanced Sentinel Radar System is the only 360-degree coverage air defense radar in the Army’s current inventory and features a 3 D X-Band phased array antenna that provides an instrumented range of 75 kilometers. Sentinel is undergoing modifications to further enhance its detection, classification, identification and reporting capability against UAS, RAM and cruise missiles. Additional hardware modifications will include the upgrade of the Signal Data Processor and transition to Active Electronically Scanned Array technology.

The Army previously procured 143 basic Sentinel Radars on the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV) but through incremental upgrades since 1997, the radar has evolved to a more robust system with greater capability. The HMMWV prime mover vehicle was not armored, as it was originally intended as a rear-echelon asset in a linear fight. As the Army engaged in a nonlinear fight, the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, or TRADOC, capability manager asked the Cruise Missile Defense Systems Project Office to harden the cab and increase crew survivability within three years. Adding an armored cab exceeded the carrying capacity for the HMMWV, necessitating the switch to a different vehicle platform. The product director decided to develop a modification kit for an FMTV and trailer that would not require modifications to the radar itself.

Issuing a new contract would have required nearly two years, from inception to contract award; with an additional year from contract award to design delivery, and a further year to deliver a prototype. This timeline was incompatible with the user requirements and the Sentinel Product Office could not find an existing contract vehicle that could support this work. To meet the user timeline, the product director decided to design the modification kit on an existing contract. Then, the organic industrial base would be used to build the initial kits and modify the first 50 vehicles.

In FY11, the Army procured 56 additional Enhanced Sentinel A3 radars that will be mounted on the M1082 Light Medium Tactical Vehicle Trailer (LMTV) with support equipment loaded onto the M1083 FMTV. The A3 radars are being produced by Thales Raytheon Systems (TRS) at the Raytheon Consolidated Manufacturing Center at Forest, Miss., while the FMTV truck and LMTV trailer will receive Sentinel specific modifications at LEAD. With a pressing need for an improved AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel radar vehicle platform and no time to procure a new platform or radar, the Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space, or PEO MS, teamed up with Letterkenny Army Depot, or LEAD, Pennsylvania, to modify an existing platform in what could be a model for partnership with the organic industrial base. This effort, which moved the Sentinel from a modified High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, or HMMWV, to the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles, or FMTV, platform without requiring modification of the radar itself, overcame a number of challenges and led to several process improvements for project and product offices to partner with Army depots.

The new FMTV platform replaces the current HMMWV that has been in use with the Sentinel radar since 1997 and is capable of hosting an enhanced armor protection kit that signifies a major step forward in providing increased Soldier survivability. The armored FMTV will meet all Sentinel maneuverability and transportability requirements while providing greater protection to the Soldier against today’s battlefield threats. The improved platform also has a larger area for the installation of new equipment that will allow Sentinel to be fully integrated with the Army Integrated Air & Missile Defense (IAMD) systems.

The Enhanced Sentinel Radar also has a modernized Radar Control Terminal (RCT) with a Linux-based RCT operating system, adding an Ethernet router for integration with the IAMD architecture. This will integrate the Identification Friend or Foe Mode V capability to prevent fratricide and the need to replace obsolete processor cards.

Design to first production was accomplished at notable speed and efficiency by using the Army agile process. The SPO at CMDS pursued a government acquisition and development approach using an integrated product team (IPT) that significantly reduced cost and development time. The FMTV Sentinel prototype effort was led by the Aviation & Missile Research, Development & Engineering Center (AMRDEC) Prototype Integration Facility (PIF) at Redstone Arsenal, Ala. along with the IPT.

This IPT partnership comprised members from the PIF; designers from Intuitive Research and Technology Corporation and Yulista Management Services (subcontractors to the PIF); manufacturing engineers and tradesmen from LEAD; safety engineers from the Army Research Laboratory and CMDS; maintenance personnel from the Fire Center of Excellence; system engineers and logisticians from TRS (the developer and manufacturer of the radar); and representatives from CMDS in various engineering disciplines, logisticians and program management. By using this unique method, the Sentinel team went from the early planning stage to having a completed prototype and moving into qualification testing in just over 12 months. This approach reduced the manufacturing lead time and cost by allowing LEAD to input required changes in the design tailored to their processes and process capabilities, input to material and vendor selection, and plan for life-cycle support requirements.

On 11 October 2021 the U.S. Army Sentinel A4 Program Office provided an accelerated contract award to Lockheed Martin to begin production for five additional radar systems developed specifically to detect and identify cruise missiles, unmanned aerial systems, rotary wing and fixed wing aircraft, and rocket, artillery, and mortar threats. Army soldiers will use these radars to evaluate the operations of the new Sentinel A4s, which are projected to be delivered by the end of 2022.

“The Lockheed Martin team truly understands the importance that this system holds for our warfighters,” stated Troy Allen, program manager for the U.S. Army Sentinel A4 program office. “Once equipped with the Sentinel A4, our soldiers will operate in a more secure warfighting environment, improving capabilities against multiple evolving threats.”

“This latest contract was awarded two years earlier in the development process than in previous programs, thanks to the team’s continued success in meeting all milestones ahead of schedule,” said Mark Mekker, director of Army Radars for Lockheed Martin. “It’s not only representative of the hard work of our employees, but also the U.S. Army’s confidence in the experience and performance of Lockheed Martin.”

The $281 million contract to develop the Sentinel A4 system was awarded to Lockheed Martin in September 2019. Even though the initial Sentinel A4 contract for 18 radars was awarded only two years earlier, the Sentinel A4 team already completed production of the first A4 system in August 2021, Lockheed Martin executed a full radar development program, including the traditional design process events, most of which was completed during strict COVID-19 conditions, in that short timeframe. The first five systems of the original contract are expected to be delivered to the U.S. Army in March 2022.

The Sentinel A4 program has an agile development process and has stayed ahead of schedule for several reasons.

1. Focus on Digital Transformation: Lockheed Martin has developed digital models that are shared across the supply base lending to flexibility, optimized test opportunities and cost savings.
2. Open Scalable Radar Architecture: Lockheed Martin’s open architecture is the cornerstone of the radar system’s design and will allow for future upgrades that not only extend the life of the radar, but also address evolving threats over the next 40 years. To quickly mature the design of this radar system, Lockheed Martin focused on the core building blocks, those repeating architecture elements that provide the real radar capability, and then scaled from there to bring up the mechanical structures around it.
3. Investment in the Future: Lockheed Martin has invested significantly in the advancement of its software-defined radar technology, including its automated manufacturing processes, which improves quality and leads to cost reduction.
4. Relationships: The U.S. Army and Lockheed Martin have built a tremendous partnership for the Sentinel A4 program. The collaboration between the Army and Lockheed Martin teams and their singular focus on mission success milestones, has resulted in an accelerated timeline.

The new air and missile defense radar will provide improved capability in contested environments against cruise missiles, unmanned aerial systems, rotary wing and fixed wing aircraft, and rocket, artillery, and mortar threats. This includes enhanced surveillance, detection, and classification capabilities to protect U.S. Army maneuver formations.