India, Morocco, Netherlands, and UAE To Buy Longbow Fire Control Radars

Washington DC (UPI) Sep 04, 2020

Longbow Limited, a joint venture of Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, won a $164.6 million contract to equip foreign Apache helicopters with radar units.

The contract, announced on Thursday by the Defense Department, calls for AH-64E Apache helicopter AN/APG-78 Longbow Fire Control Radar units to be sold to the militaries of Morocco, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates and India.

The mast-mounted system provides Apache aircrews with automatic target detection, location and classification while “enabling rapid, multi-target engagement in all weather conditions over multiple types of terrain and through battlefield obscurants,” Lockheed Martin has previously said of the system.

It allows aircrews the opportunity to scan large areas for threats, and if a target it identified, data can quickly be sent to a missile and launch system.

“The LBL team is excited to bring Morocco, Netherlands and India army into the Longbow FCR user community, and to update UAE with new capabilities, as the ever-evolving missions of our U.S. allies will benefit from our precision engagement capabilities,” Jim Messina of Longbow program director at Lockheed, said Friday in a press release.

“The Longbow radar remains a relevant and important system for the missions Apache aircrews fly,” Messina added.

About 500 systems have been delivered to the U.S. Army and international customers since 1996, according to Lockheed.

Courtesy: Space War