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In combat, there is perhaps nothing more terrifying than being in the middle of an artillery or mortar attack and not knowing when and where the next shell will land. One second you may be fine, and the next you could find yourself without a limb-or worse. You can try to find cover or get out of range, but unless you do it fast, it will not do you a bit of good, since you can see neither the incoming projectiles nor their point of origin.
One way to deal with this combat issue is through counterfire target acquisition radar systems. Designed to detect incoming artillery, mortar and rocket fire, these radar systems can show forces the locations of hostile firing units, provide early warning of indirect fire attack and determine the point of impact of such attacks.
The most recent addition to the U.S. Army's counterfire radar capabilities is Lockheed Martin's AN/TPQ-53, also known as the Q-53, a vehicle-mounted system that has been supporting Army warfighters in theater for almost four years. For operations of short duration- up to 72 hours-the Q-53 uses a single vehicle with a power generator. The advantage of this setup is that it offers great mobility while carrying out essential missions. For longer operations, the...