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Army vows infrared sensors for Longbow

The Army has taken another large step Monday toward outfitting its entire fleet of Apache Longbow attack helicopters with high-tech infrared targeting sensors, awarding a $172 million follow-on production contract to Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control.

Modernized Targeting Acquisition and Designation Sights give pilots a longer, more accurate view of the battlefield, service officials said. The Lockheed Martin-built sensors began initial fielding in 2005. The systems’ performance in combat has led the Army to add more of the systems faster than initially planned, resulting in orders for hundreds more over the last year-and-a-half, Army officials said Monday at the Army Aviation Association of America, National Harbor, Md.

“MTADS was a huge improvement over the legacy system. It made pilotage at night a lot easier and a lot safer,” said U.S. Army Maj. Joe Herman, assistant project manager, Apache Longbow.

“The experts will tell you it is a state-of-the-art system that won’t be equaled for at least 10 years,” said U.S. Army Col. Derek Paquette, Apache program manager. “We just awarded our lot five contract with an option for lot six. That will give us 634 systems, an upgraded system for every longbow in the fleet right now. We will complete our fielding of MTADS to the Longbow fleet by 2011.

“In terms of range, it is more than double what we could see with the old system,” Paquette added. “At Yuma Proving Grounds [Ariz.], we were seeing four times what you could see with the legacy system.”

While sandstorms or so-called brownouts can still provide visibility complications for Apaches with MTADS, the enhanced technology helps the helicopters navigate through bad weather, said Col. Mark Hayes, capabilities manager, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command.

“With MTADS we have far fewer challenges with obscurants than we had because the acuity of the system is so good,” Hayes said. “For example, it will see through rain. It will see through light fog. It will see through a certain amount of smoke.”

Also, the Army is working with Lockheed to build in additional improvements to the MTADS system, such as using software programs to combine the infrared sensor with a low-light TV camera.

“The software takes the imagery from the camera and the FLIR [forward looking infrared sensor] and puts it together so there is one picture with everything in it,” said Robert Gunning, program director, Apache Fire Control, Lockheed Martin. “The addition of a low-light TV camera in the piloting sensor will allow the crew to see ground tracers, laser pointers and other signals from the ground. They will be able to see their own lasers as well.

“The FLIR senses heat, and this new camera will be blended together with the FLIR video so that pilots can also see lights,” he added.

A production contract for this new upgraded is expected in June, Lockheed and Army officials said. The Army plans to field the first battalion with this new camera/sensor by the first quarter of next year, an Army official said.