Tag Archives: ARES

Ground Forces

First British Ares

Named for the ancient Greek god of war, Ares delivers a step-change in the British Army’s battlefield capability. Last week, the first six vehicles were delivered to the Household Cavalry Regiment at Bulford, Wiltshire.

First Ares Armoured Vehicles Delivered to the Army

Ares, and the other variants in the Ajax family of armoured vehicles, will replace the Army’s Combat Vehicle Reconnaissance (Tracked) (CVR(T)) vehicles which have been the mainstay of armoured reconnaissance for almost fifty years.

CVR(T) has proved itself on the battlefield in the Falklands and the in the deserts of the Middle East, but now requires a replacement to maintain the Army’s position as a top tier performer and to match the needs of the twenty-first century.

The Ajax family consists of Ares a troop-carrying reconnaissance vehicle, Ajax armed with a formidable 40-mm cannon, support variants Apollo and Atlas, a command and control variant Athena, and an engineer variant – Argus.

Ares, part of the Ajax family of armoured vehicles, is being built by General Dynamics in Merthyr Tydfil, bringing hundreds of jobs and wider opportunities to Wales. The vehicles will give the Army’s Armoured Infantry and Strike Brigades a critical advantage over any likely opponent, through a combination of the latest technology, exemplary levels of crew protection, and, of course, our world-class professional soldiers.

Colonel Justin Kingsford, the Ajax Programme Director said: «This is an exciting moment for the Army. The delivery of Ares this week is an important step on our journey to give the Army an amazing state of the art, world beating Armoured Fighting Vehicle».

Describing the vehicle in greater depth, he went on to say: «Ajax will allow us to manage battlespace information faster from a modern digitised platform, with increased lethality through the new 40-mm cannon. Better mobility, alongside enhanced protection levels and increased reliability underline the transformational nature of the capability. A comprehensive simulated training suite supports this fleet and ensures we invest fully in our crews to get the very best of this capability».

Ground Forces

Next Generation Sensor

Lockheed Martin will unveil its next generation air and missile defense radar demonstrator at the annual Space & Missile Defense Symposium this week in Huntsville, Alabama. The Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar for Engagement and Surveillance (ARES) is a representative full-scale prototype of the technology to support a modern, 360-degree capable sensor that the U.S. Army will use to address current and emerging air and ballistic missile threats.

Lockheed Martin’s radar technology demonstrator is being developed to serve as the next generation sensor specifically designed to operate within the U.S. Army Integrated Air & Missile Defense (IAMD) framework (Photo courtesy Lockheed Martin)
Lockheed Martin’s radar technology demonstrator is being developed to serve as the next generation sensor specifically designed to operate within the U.S. Army Integrated Air & Missile Defense (IAMD) framework (Photo courtesy Lockheed Martin)

This fractional array is representative of Lockheed Martin’s potential Lower Tier Air & Missile Defense Sensor (LTAMDS) solution, built on a modular and scalable architecture to scale to the Army’s requirements, once finalized, to replace the aging Patriot MPQ-65 radar. The array on display in Huntsville will be used to mature technology and verify performance to ensure uniform 360-degree threat detection and system performance.

«Incremental upgrades to the existing Patriot radar no longer address current sustainment issues, current threat performance shortcomings, or provide growth for future and evolving threats», said Mark Mekker, director of next generation radar systems at Lockheed Martin. «Lockheed Martin is prepared to offer a next generation missile defense system that will leverage advances in radar technology to provide a modular, scalable architecture and reduce the total cost of ownership well over its 30-year lifecycle».

Lockheed Martin’s active electronically scanned array (AESA) technology incorporates Gallium Nitride (GaN) transmitter technology and advanced signal processing techniques including recently developed and proven 360-degree sensor/fire control algorithms based on advanced threat sets. These technologies and concepts have been fully integrated into both demonstration and production systems resulting in the industry’s first fielded ground based radars with GaN technology.

The AESA technology is also in use in the AN/TP/Q-53 radar system, which Lockheed Martin designed, developed and delivered to the Army on an urgent need timeline in under 36 months, and which continues to be scaled to address emerging threats.

«Our solution for the U.S. Army’s new air and missile defense sensor is not a new-start program. It’s a combination of technology maturation over several years and includes capability leveraged from our current development programs and battlefield-proven radars. We rely heavily on our modern radar systems such as the Q-53 and the Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR) to rapidly bring low-risk, proven technology to the warfighter», Mekker said. «We look forward to the opportunity to participate in this competition that will ultimately drive up performance and reduce costs for the U.S. Army».

As a proven world leader in systems integration and development of air and missile defense systems and technologies, Lockheed Martin delivers high-quality missile defense solutions that protect citizens, critical assets and deployed forces from current and future threats. The company’s experience spans radar and signal processing, missile design and production, hit-to-kill capabilities, infrared seekers, command and control/battle management, precision pointing and tracking optics, as well as threat-representative targets for missile defense tests.

Missile Defense Radar Technology