The US Army has recently deployed the first Lockheed Martin enhanced AN/TPQ-36 (EQ-36) counterfire target acquisition radar systems in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A new advanced radar for the Army, EQ-36 systems has the ability to detect, classify, track and locate enemy indirect fire such as mortars, artillery and rockets in either 360- or 90-degree modes.

The new systems will supplement and eventually replace legacy AN/TPQ-36 and AN/TPQ-37 medium-range radars now in the Army's inventory, said a Lockheed Martin official.

'From the start, the EQ-36 program has been about the soldier and the Army's urgent need to protect them from daily indirect fire threats,' said Carl Bannar, vice president of Lockheed Martin's Radar Systems.

'With more than 40-years of radar experience, we developed the EQ-36 radar in fewer than 30 months - less than half the time it traditionally takes to develop a new radar system.'

In July 2009, Lockheed Martin delivered the first two EQ-36 systems to the Army, ahead of schedule, following successful live-fire field testing at Yuma Proving Grounds in Arizona.-TradeArabia News Service