QUANTICO, Va., 16 Oct. 2012. Defense and aviation officials in the Government of Egypt needed RF repeaters and related support equipment for six SPS-48E land-based radar sites in Egypt. They found their solution from ITT Exelis Electronic Systems segment in Van Nuys, Calif.
Officials of U.S. Marine Corps Systems Command at Quantico Marine Base, Va., announced plans to award a $25.8 million contract to ITT Exelis (formerly ITT Gilfillan) to provide Egypt with two RF repeaters for each of six SPS-48E radar sites.
The Marine Corps., which is in charge of this foreign military sales contract to Egypt, made the contract announcement last week in a justification-and-approval message number M67854-12-C-2443.
The SPS-48E land-based radar, built and designed by ITT Exelis, is an air search radar for anti-aircraft warfare capable ships. It was designed originally for naval surface combatants and is the predecessor to the Lockheed Martin Aegis radar system that is installed on U.S. Navy Ticonderoga-class cruisers and Arleigh Burke-class destroyers.
The SPS-48E still is employed on Navy surface combatants such as the Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, and Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship. The SPS 48E land-based radar is for air search radar installations on land.
The SPS-48E radar is mechanically rotated in a circle for 360-degree coverage, unlike the Aegis radar, which is a steered phased-array radar. The frequency-scanned radar also differers from the electronically scanned Aegis radar.
The SPS-48E radar has a range of more than 200 nautical miles and can track targets to 69 degrees elevation above the horizon. It can provide target range, bearing, and altitude information.
The SPS-48E antenna uses different frequencies in E band and F band with three power modes: high, medium, and low. SPS-48 radars stack several different beams in a train of pulses at different frequencies. For more information contact ITT Exelis online at www.exelisinc.com, or Marine Corps Systems Command at www.marcorsyscom.marines.mil.
Follow Military & Aerospace Electronics and Avionics Intelligence news updates on Twitter
