The Marine Corps awarded Northrop Grumman a $958 million contract for production of a ground-based, mobile radar system produced at one of its Anne Arundel County plants.
The defense contractor would deliver 30 of the so-called G/ATOR systems — for Ground/Air Task-Oriented Radar — under the contract.
Several hundred people work on the program at the plant, which is on Aviation Boulevard on the outskirts of Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport.
“We are excited to reach the full-rate production decision and continue providing advanced multi-mission functionality that meets our customer’s mission needs, protects the warfighter in a rapidly changing threat environment, and has significant margin for capability growth,” Christine Harbison, Northrop Grumman’s vice president, land and avionics C4ISR, said in a statement.
Northrop Grumman, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., began production of the G/ATOR in 2017, after it spent years in development.
The system combines the capabilities of other radar devices, such as air traffic control, air surveillance and air defense. Its short-to-medium-range radar can detect, identify and track cruise missiles, manned aircraft and unmanned aerial vehicles as well as rockets, artillery fire and even mortar rounds. It is also easy to deploy since it is capable of being towed behind a truck.
The G/ATOR replaces five of the Marines’ legacy systems.
