Lockheed Martin Awarded US Army Vehicle Protection System Contract
The Modular Active Protection System base kits use sensors to detect, track, classify, and defeat threats.
Lockheed Martin will supply up to 20 Modular Active Protection System (MAPS) base kits to US Army combat vehicles under a contract totaling up to $30 million.
The kit includes a processor which integrates sensors and countermeasures in an “open, common framework to detect, track, classify and defeat existing and emerging threats like rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank guided missiles,” the defense manufacturer said in a statement.
“Lockheed Martin partnered with the US Army in 2014 to develop MAPS as a safe and secure vehicle defense system that protects warfighters from a variety of anti-armor threats,” said David Rohall, program manager for Advanced Ground Vehicle Systems at Lockheed Martin.
“Since then, the MAPS base kit has proven itself in multiple live-fire demonstrations. We’re ready to support integration and testing on a variety of Army combat vehicles, the final step before the Army makes a formal decision on fielding this capability.”
Scalable Kit, Fast Processor
The kit is scalable to adjust with current vehicle systems as well as with those that are in the pipeline, Lockheed Martin stated.
Apart from featuring high speed processing power to run the system’s multiple applications, the kit’s other components include application software, a power management distribution system, a user interface, and a network switch.
The manufacturer explains that the kit allows additional components to be added depending on the possible threat perceived against the vehicle, which extends the life cycle of the system and saves the user from developmental costs.
System to Be Fitted in Abrams, Bradleys, and Strykers
Talking further about the capabilities of the kit, Lockheed Martin states that in a live-fire test conducted by the army, MAPS protected a vehicle by warding off anti-tank guided missiles 15 out of 15 times by jamming their signals.
The contract runs for a period of 36 months, during which Lockheed Martin will deliver at least five kits, extendable to 20, and assist the army in testing and integrating the system in vehicles such as Abrams tanks, Armored Multi-Purpose Vehicles, Bradley, and Stryker vehicles.
Contract provisions also stipulate that system-enabled protection includes features beyond active protection, such as underbelly blast protection, as well.
