Brochure - Northrop Grumman Corporation

Extensive ECCM Features
The S-Band AN/TPS-78 and TPS-703
radars employ numerous advanced
techniques to limit susceptibility to
jamming. In a wartime mode, both radars
operate in a frequency agile mode,
dynamically selecting the least jammed
frequency in the 300 MHz operating
band. The operator can also select a
fixed frequency for a peacetime mode
to maintain bandwidth capability security.
The low-sidelobe antenna will filter
out most sidelobe jamming before it
enters the radar system.
Rank-ordered Constant False Alarm
Rate (CFAR) is used to prevent false
alarms from the small amount of residual
interference that makes it through
the low-sidelobe antenna. The rankordered
CFAR eliminates false alarms
with a minimum loss of detectability
while providing resolution of closely
spaced targets. Detection of small targets
in weather and chaff is ensured by
the stacked beam architecture, which
provides the required multiple returns
on each target for Doppler processing
and impulse interference rejection.
The narrow beam widths of the S-
Band antenna reduce the amount of
clutter competing with the targets,
which helps target detection in clutter.
Survivability
The AN/TPS-78 and TPS-703 radars
are designed and proven to operate
in some of the world’s harshest, most
unforgiving environments. This outstanding
survivability is achieved by
combining unsurpassed mobility, unmatched
sidelobe levels and innovative
“cool” antenna technology.
Anti Radiation Missiles (ARM) use
sidelobe technology to lock onto sensors,
but the low-sidelobe antenna helps
further protect from such attacks. There
are no active radiating elements on the
antenna, which provides a “cool” array
to shield from the attacks of heat-seeking
missiles.
With a significantly lower weight and
smaller size than the rest of their class,
the AN/TPS-78 and TPS-703 are the
best options when dealing with challenging
conditions. The radars can be
quickly transported to different locations
as needed.
Low-Cost Logistic
Supportability
Modular design reduces
sparing requirements
The modular design in the AN/TPS-78
and TPS-703 systems reduce the number
of transmitter Line Replaceable
Unit (LRU) types by 80 percent from
previous radar designs. The entire transmitter
requires only nine different LRU
types, including fully interchangeable
pre-amps, power panels, and radio frequency
panel power amplifier modules.
The programmable processing architecture
of the AN/TPS-78 and TPS-703
reduce the number of processor LRU
types by 90 percent, with only two basic
circuit card styles needed for the
signal and data processor suite.
Leveraging system commonality
Designing the AN/TPS-78 and the
TPS-703 from the same system architecture
assures that their respective
mission requirements can be met with
a high degree of operational, training
and logistic commonality. This provides
maximum returns on acquisition
as well as operation and maintenance
(O&M) investments. There is a greater
than 90 percent commonality of major
subsystems and LRUs between the AN/
TPS-78 and TPS-703.
The two radars also offer more than 90
percent software commonality, so that
software maintenance, modification
and documentation costs are significantly
below those of competing systems.
The software is hosted on open-architecture
signal and data processors, enabling
cost-effective future upgrades.
3
Highly Reliable and
Maintainable System
Integrated redundancy and
fault tolerant design
The radars offer a mean time between
critical failure rate (MTBCF) of over
2,000 hours, greatly increasing the
time between required maintenance actions.
This excellent system availability
is achieved through a combination
of numerous factors. Redundancy integrated
throughout the systems allows
automatic reconfiguration after a fault
condition, preserving full operational
capability. Additionally, the design
margin in the solid-state transmitter
permits fault-tolerant operation meeting
specified performance. Module replacement
can be done at any time or
during planned preventive maintenance
intervals. Moreover, the environmentally
controlled shelter maintains many
of the electronics in a benign operating
environment, significantly increasing
hardware reliability.
Maintenance is easily performed in an
environmentally controlled shelter interior.
Automated setup and
unattended operation
After initial system setup, full performance
is maintained through the use
of automatic calibration and Automatic
Gain Control (AGC) functions, eliminating
the need for subsequent operator
actions. Automatic calibration enables
full performance to be continued during
unattended operation.