诺斯罗普·格鲁曼公司的新型多任务雷达系统因在装备进展中远超半程而受到海军陆战队领导人的热烈赞扬。在此成功基础上，官员们本月表示，其他潜在客户，包括美国陆军，已对该系统表达了兴趣。
Northrop Grumman’s new multi-mission radar system has earned effusive praise from Marine Corps leaders as it surges well past the halfway point in fielding. On the heels of that success, officials said this month, other potential customers, including the U.S. Army, have expressed interest in the system.
AN/TPS-80 地面/空中任务导向雷达，即 G/ATOR，是海军陆战队应对广泛空中威胁的解决方案，尤其在太平洋近海地区。
The AN/TPS-80 Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar, or G/ATOR, is the Marine Corps’ solution for defending against a broad range of airborne threats, particularly in the Pacific littorals.
它取代了五套老旧雷达系统，去年还获得了一项扩展范围的软件升级，提升了其能力并增强了其辨别空中友敌的能力。
It replaces five older radar systems, and last year received an extended-range software upgrade that boosted its capability and advanced its ability to differentiate friends or foes in the air.
10月7日，诺斯罗普任务系统总监保罗·韦弗在接受记者采访时表示，公司已向海军陆战队交付了其订购的60套G/ATOR系统中的43套，其中5套分配给空军，1套用于海军的测试与评估。
In a call with reporters Oct. 7, Northrop Director of Mission Systems Paul Weaver said the company had delivered 43 of the 60 G/ATOR systems the Marine Corps has ordered, of which five are designated for the Air Force and one for Navy test and evaluation.
“目前战场上对该系统的需求很高，这正是基于其表现，”韦弗说。“基于客户反馈，我们过去四五年一直在对系统进行修改。我们进行了一些硬件改进以延长其探测范围，并且我们一直在进行软件改进，以适应特定的威胁环境——无论是从最小到最大的[无人机系统]，还是他们可能面临的其他潜在威胁。”韦弗表示，公司正“在总部层面积极参与”与海军陆战队和空军讨论如何最佳使用G/ATOR，并且最近也开始与陆军进行类似接触。
“Demand for the system in theater right now is high, and it’s based on that performance,” Weaver said. “We’ve been making modifications to the system based on customer input for the last four or five years. We’ve made some hardware modifications that extended its range, and we’re constantly making software improvements to adapt to the specific threat environment, whether that be [unmanned aerial systems], from the smallest to the largest, and other potential threats that they face.”Weaver said the company was “actively engaged at the headquarters level” with the Marine Corps and the Air Force about how best to employ G/ATOR and had recently begun engagements with the Army as well.
虽然他回避明确表示陆军是否有意采购该雷达系统，但他表示该系统的能力在各军种中具有广泛吸引力。
While he deferred on saying whether the Army had interest in acquiring the radar system, he said its capabilities had broad appeal across the services.
“当你在战场上部署多套这些系统，并以互补方式运行时，你就能保持持续机动，并使对手的目标循环变得复杂，”韦弗说。“这对目前正处于冲突中的每个军种都具有吸引力。因此，就我们目前与陆军和空军的合作而言，一切都回归到其当前性能以及这一先进平台可能提供的机动性。”G/ATOR重9000磅，体积小、重量轻，足以由C-130“大力神”或MV-22“鱼鹰”飞机运输。
“When you put a number of these systems in the field, operating in a complementary way, you can stay in constant movement and complicate the adversary’s target cycle,” Weaver said. “That is of interest to every service that’s currently in conflict right now. So, to the level that we’re engaged with the Army and the Air Force, it all comes back to its current performance and the agility that this advanced platform potentially offers.”At 9,000 pounds, G/ATOR is small and light enough to be transported by C-130 Hercules or MV-22 Osprey aircraft.
它可由四人组成的乘员在十分钟内完成布放和部署，并且功率可在中程目标的60千瓦和远程打击的75千瓦之间灵活调节。海军陆战队于2018年开始首次装备该系统，而服役领导近期表示，他们可能很快就会扩大采购计划。
It can be set up and emplaced by a four-person crew in under ten minutes, and can flex in power settings from 60 kilowatts for medium-range targets to 75 kilowatts for longer-range kills. Initial fielding to the Marine Corps began in 2018, and service leaders have suggested more recently that they might soon expand their acquisition plan.
“我们发现它的能力远超我们之前的预期，”现任第3海军后勤集团指挥官克里斯托弗·哈尔准将去年十二月对《军事时报》表示。“现在，我们有需求将其装备到更多单位，并可能增加采购数量。”《战争地带》上个月报道称，海军陆战队太平洋基地的第31海军陆战远征队在支持“伊朗史诗之怒”行动的作战中首次实战使用了该部队的远征先进基地行动（EABO）概念。目前尚不清楚G/ATOR系统是否参与了该概念的实施。但韦弗确实暗示，当前冲突正在凸显该系统的优势。
“We learned that it’s much more capable than we thought,” Brig. Gen. Christopher Haar, now commander of the 3rd Marine Logistics Group, told Military Times last December. “And now there’s a demand for us to get that in more units, and to potentially increase the number of those systems that we buy.”The War Zone reported last month that the Corps’ Pacific-based 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit had employed the service’s Expeditionary Advanced Base Operations (EABO) concept for the first time in combat during operations in support of the Operation Epic Fury conflict with Iran. It’s not clear if the G/ATOR system was part of that concept employment. But Weaver did suggest that the current conflict is highlighting its strengths.
凭借其轻量化的占用空间和能够进行360度主动电子扫描阵列（AESA）雷达扫描的能力，他表示，该系统可以飞入偏远地区建立远征空军基地，从而在建立监视周界的同时实现空域控制。根据公司的说法，该系统能够识别从迫击炮到炮兵的敌方火力发射点，并可作为地面空中交通管制管理器。韦弗说，无人机战争凸显了该系统的其他优势。
With its lightweight footprint and capable 360-degree active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, the system, he said, can be flown into an austere location to establish an expeditionary air base, allowing the establishment of a surveillance perimeter while also enabling airspace control. According to the company, the system can identify launch points of hostile fires ranging from mortars to artillery and serve as a ground-based air traffic control manager. Drone warfare, Weaver said, brings out other strengths.
“它在最近的冲突和全球范围内证明，在复杂环境中表现卓越，这使其在识别所有类别的无人机系统和巡航导弹方面非常有用，”他说。“它不仅能提供其周围各高度空域内情况的感知，还能提供武器级数据和这种性能，这意味着作战人员不仅能看到它，还能将其连接到其所拥有的任何可用对抗措施上，无论是动能还是非动能的，并适当应对。”
“It’s proving in recent conflicts and around the globe to perform exceptionally well in clutter, which makes it very helpful in identifying all classes of UASs and cruise missiles,” he said. “It’s not only providing awareness of what’s in the airspace around it at all altitudes. It provides weapons quality data and that performance, which means the warfighter can not only see it but also connect it to any available countermeasure that it has, whether that be kinetic or non-kinetic, and address it appropriately.”