Lockheed Martin's Jazzed Up TPS-117.

Son of the long range AN/FPS-117 air surveillance radar introduced in the late 1970s for the US Air Force's Alaskan Air Command, the FPS-117 is a much modernised and mobile version developed by Lockheed Martin to meet requirements from Brazil and Australia. An L-Band phased-array radar, the FPS-117 is a significantly upgraded tactical radar particularly as far as the electronics, signal processing and digital receiver are concerned (improvements that can be retrofitted to earlier models).

Each of the 34 rows now has its own transceiver and the planar array rotates to provide 360-degree azimuth coverage. As the antenna rotates, the radar transmits pencil beams that are electronically phase scanned to provide complete elevation coverage. According to Lockheed Martin, the pencil beam architecture allows the parameters of each beam to be tailored to its environment -- greatly reducing the effects of terrain and weather clutter. A six-degree "lookdown" capability also permits coverage in valley areas inaccessible to "stacked beam" radars (Lockheed Martin is also now looking at an all-digital beam steering that could be retrofitted in about two years' time).

Transportable by two C-130s (one for the radar and the other for the electronics ISO container), the TPS-117 nevertheless still has an 80 per cent commonality with its predecessor, only requires five to six men to set it up in about 30 minutes and allows remote control operation, meaning that no personnel are required on site. It provides a target range of 250 nautical miles at 100 000 feet elevations. For the shorter range surveillance the unit exploits MTI and Doppler to reduce ground clutter and, interestingly, has a look-down capability for cases in which the radar is located on an elevated site.

Ten units are now being produced and the type is now part of a bid in South Korea and in Taiwan.