“Romania orders more AN/TPS-79s to fill radar gap”, un articol apărut în Jane’s Defence Weekly, 18 martie 2008

The Romanian Ministry of Defence signed a contract on 11 March for the co-production of 17 AN/TPS-79 R multimission surveillance radar (MMSR) systems for the country’s ‘gap filler’ (GF) programme.

The MMSRs are expected to be operational in two years and will augment the coverage of the five AN/FPS-117 fixed-site radars delivered in 1998 to supply a more complete air surveillance capability.

In 2003 the Romanian MoD and Lockheed Martin signed a memorandum of understanding for the co-production of 21 AN/TPS-73 MMSR. Two prototype systems were provided under a Phase I contract and the rest were co-produced with local companies in Romania, such as UTI Systems SA.
Under Phase II, Lockheed Martin will build the radar components and subassemblies for 17 additional MMSR systems at its facility in Syracuse, New York. UTI Systems will provide additional components and its employees will participate in radar integration and testing in both Syracuse and Romania.

As part of NATO’s standardisation procedures, Romanian airspace management is controlled via an integrated system for air traffic control consisting of three components, realised in co-operation with Lockheed Martin: the Air Sovereignty Operation Centre; the AN/FPS-117 long-range 3-D radar for high-altitude surveillance; and the MMSR GF system for low-altitude surveillance.

The MMSR system, a mobile air surveillance radar with a 111 km range, is a variant of Lockheed Martin’s Air Surveillance and Precision Approach Radar Control System that the US Marine Corps bought in 2000.

by Radu Tudor, JDW Correspondent