Okinawa, Japan. (November 12, 2024): In past wars, Marines in combat had to guess where incoming mortars were coming from. Not today. In this photo by Staff Sergeant Robert Gavaldon, Corporal Jonathan F. Mikita, left, and Sergeant Michael J. Tatay assemble a lightweight counter-mortar radar system. This remarkable device can detect and track incoming rounds fired from separate locations and instantly send early warning messages to friendly troops. The radar also pinpoints the location of the incoming round's launcher for counter-fire from artillery, mortars, or aircraft.
During World War II, radars were mostly used for anti-aircraft defense on ships and carriers. Later adaptations have created a new class of target acquisition radars to track low altitude projectiles like mortars. Here is how the system works:
When an enemy fires a missile or mortar, the system detects and begins to track the projectile while sending out warning messages to the battlefield. Information from a single radar system can be shared with multiple receivers over long distances.
The radar’s track-while-scan capability allows the simultaneous detection and tracking of multiple threats fired from separate locations. Once a threat is detected, the radar uses their trajectories to locate the position on the ground of the weapon that fired it. The weapon’s location is reported back for a counterfire response from any member of the integrated system.
This makes firing on American positions a dicey proposition.
These sophisticated radars provide continuous three dimensional 360-degree surveillance with a range of up to ten miles. It is lightweight with no moving parts so it can be assembled or disassembled by two soldiers in 20 minutes. The unit can be transported and operated on a light vehicle such as a Humvee or it can be installed in rugged terrain using a tripod. This low power system can operate independently making it ideal for remote missions.
Today’s warfighters don’t have to guess where the rounds are coming from and, thanks to counterfire systems, they have an instant way to respond.