The Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP), is a

U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 ...

project led by contractor

Northrop Grumman Northrop Grumman Corporation is an American multinational Aerospace manufacturer, aerospace and Arms industry, defense company. With 97,000 employees and an annual revenue in excess of $40 billion, it is one of the world's largest Arms industry ...

to develop the next generation of airborne air-to-air and air-to-ground radar systems. While initially planned to come in three sizes for multiple platforms, the MP-RTIP is currently intended only for the RQ-4B Global Hawk

UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Drone ...

.Northrop-Grumman press release, May 3, 2004, accessed April 20, 2007

Overview

The MP-RTIP is a "modular,

active electronically scanned array An active electronically scanned array (AESA) is a type of phased array antenna, which is a computer-controlled antenna array in which the beam of radio waves can be electronically steered to point in different directions without moving the a ...

radar system" designed to be scaled in size in order to fit on board different platforms. The system is being developed from earlier Northrop Grumman radar systems, including the

Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System The Northrop Grumman E-8 Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) is a retired United States Air Force (USAF) airborne ground surveillance, Battle Management, battle management and Command and control (military), command and c ...

(JointSTARS) and the existing Global Hawk system. The next-generation system will improve the Air Force's ability to track slow-moving ground vehicles and low-flying cruise missiles. The primary improvements are a dramatic increase in resolution and an ability "to collect ground moving target indicator imagery and synthetic aperture radar still images simultaneously".Raytheon press release, accessed April 20, 2007
/ref> The Global Hawk, which currently is an air-to-ground radar platform, was originally due to receive air-to-air capability through the MP-RTIP. That capability was subsequently removed from the test program's budget, however, in a reversal, funding for an air-to-air capability is being restored."MP-RTIP: Rutan To Get First Crack At Flight Test", Shephard Press
RQ-4B Block 40 and later have MP-RTIP installed for dual air and ground surveillance capacity.
. Bga-Aeroweb.com

Development

Phase I of the development program began in December, 2000. The three-year program was undertaken by Northrop Grumman at a contract cost of $410 million, and focused on the basic design of the radar system. Phase II is a six-year, $888 million contract awarded by the Air Force's

Electronic Systems Center The Electronic Systems Center was a product center of Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts. Its mission was to develop and acquire command and control, communications, computer, and intellige ...

in May, 2004, under which the radar system is being developed, tested and integrated. Raytheon's Space and Airborne Systems is a subcontractor on the program, tasked with hardware development. Phase II calls for the production of six systems, three for Global Hawk and three for the E-10. The Global Hawk's system is the first to be flight tested, a program for which Northrop Grumman is using its

Proteus In Greek mythology, Proteus ( ; ) is an early prophetic sea god or god of rivers and oceanic bodies of water, one of several deities whom Homer calls the "Old Man of the Sea" (''hálios gérôn''). Some who ascribe a specific domain to Prote ...

aircraft (built by

Scaled Composites Scaled Composites (often called simply Scaled) is an American aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman. It is located at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Mojave, California, United States. Founded to d ...

). The MP-RTIP is mounted in a large pod fitted under Proteus. The program, jointly conducted by Northrop Grumman and the Air Force's 851st Electronic Systems Group, is being operated from the

Mojave Spaceport The Mojave Air and Space Port at Rutan Field is in Mojave, California, United States, at an elevation of . It is the first facility to be licensed in the United States for horizontal launches of reusable spacecraft, being certified as a spa ...

."E-10's MP-RTIP Ground Surveillance Radar to Test Aboard Proteus", ''Defense Industry Daily'', May 17, 2006, accessed April 20, 2007
/ref> Eventually, the entire program is expected to cost $2 billion. With the E-10 program cancellation, five E-8 JointSTARS aircraft are expected to be retrofitted with the MP-RTIP.''Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program'' at GlobalSecurity.org
/ref> The USAF ended up pursuing cheaper ways to modernize the E-8, though the MP-RTIP receiver technology did see use in the form of JSTARS Radar Modernization (JSRM).

References

{{reflist Radars of the United States Air Force Projects of the United States Air Force