Proteus flights continue to test advanced radar system

  • Published
  • By Chuck Paone
  • ESC Public Affairs
Jan. 23, 2007 --  HANSCOM AFB, MASS. (January 23, 2007) - High above the hardened Southern California landscape, a uniquely designed test aircraft known as Proteus continues to fly with a payload that's critical to the future of airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations.

The flights are testing an advanced radar system referred to as the Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program and often simply called MP-RTIP. Testers are looking specifically at the Global-Hawk variant of the radar.

The first MP-RTIP-equipped Global Hawk is expected to be fielded in the 2011 timeframe, according to Global Hawk program managers.

The flight tests, which are part of a year-long effort, are now more than 20 percent complete - the 11th of a planned 50 was flown last week - and they are proceeding well, according to program manager Maj. Ken Butler of the 851st Electronic Systems Group, located here. The tests are being conducted by the group and its contractor team of Northrop Grumman and Raytheon.

The 11th flight was particularly significant because it was the first in which the radar was operated in its air-to-air mode. That allows the radar to track not only ground-moving objects, but also airborne-surging and flying targets, said Scott Hardiman, the group's deputy director.

"Using the air-to-air radar modes on this flight was a great achievement for our government and industry team," Mr. Hardiman said. "It was a big technological hurdle for us, and it's indicative of the great progress being made every day on this program."

So far the flight testing program, like almost any other test program, has encountered some glitches; but overall steady progress has been made, he said.

The team has been able to test different radar modes, as well as various hardware components and communication links. The radar is controlled from the ground using a modified version of the Multi-Platform Common Data Link, which also allows real-time monitoring of performance, Major Butler said.

When not operating in the air-to-air mode, MP-RTIP will provide advanced ground surveillance capabilities, including ground moving target indication, which tracks vehicle movement, and synthetic aperture radar, which returns high-resolution still images.

"The technical effort that has gone into developing this radar is just fantastic," Mr. Hardiman said. "We're really starting to see the fruits of the promises that were made."

CONTACT: Chuck Paone, (781) 377-5078; charles.paone@hanscom.af.mil