Quad A 2011: TRACER begins operational evaluation with SOUTHCOM

US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) has begun an Operational Test & Evaluation (OT&E) of Lockheed Martin's Tactical Reconnaissance and Counter-Concealment-Enabled Radar (TRACER), according to company officials.

Speaking at the Quad A annual exposition in Nashville, programme director for TRACER Robert Robinson, said the OT&E had already been in progress for over a week and a half on board a US Army Beechcraft King Air B-200 aircraft. The evaluation is due to run for between 30 and 40 days although Robinson was unable to comment on where exactly in the SOUTHCOM area of operations (AOR) the tests were taking place.

The news comes on the back of today's announcement that flight testing of TRACER has been completed on board a MQ-9B Predator UAS. The dual-band synthetic aperture radar system is designed to detect and geo-locate personnel, vehicles and objects 'buried, camouflaged or concealed' under foliage.

Robinson added that should TRACER successfully pass its OT&E with SOUTHCOM by proving penetration through double and triple canopies, it could be selected to remain in the AOR permanently with implementation occurring over the next six to 12 months in order for it to replace existing FOPEN systems. The latter, he said, would be 'used for other purposes'.

Originally designed for the US Army's Gray Eagle UAS, Robinson said early discussions had begun to integrate TRACER onto Boeing's A160T Hummingbird VTOL UAS which has been conducting tests with DARPA's FORESTER (FOPEN Reconnaissance, Surveillance, Tracking and Engagement Radar) sensor in the jungle of Belize. He also described potential for integrating TRACER onto C-12 aircraft.

'TRACER is now considered operationally ready from an availability perspective,' Robinson said. Currently, there are four-qualified TRACER platforms available for deployment on manned or unmanned platforms, according to Lockheed Martin.