TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, Pa. — Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko was on the tarmac to watch the arrival of counter fire radars recently transferred from here to the Eastern European country as part of the current foreign aid agreement with the United States.
Team Tobyhanna and Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Distribution-Tobyhanna joined forces to test and move 31 pieces of stock Army equipment to help the beleaguered country. Depot technicians and engineers followed four AN/TPQ-36 Firefinder Radar Systems and 10 AN/TPQ-49 Lightweight Counter Mortar Radars (LCMR) across the pond to repair and field the assets. Team members will remain in country to provide technical support during an upcoming Ukrainian training exercise. Both radars are used to back track incoming fire for fast and accurate counterfire.
DLA personnel were responsible for releasing the stock items to Tobyhanna for repair and testing, and loading the assets onto nine semi-trucks headed to the airport.
“I was elated to see how smoothly the transfer went,” said Bruce Apgar, EUCOM (European Command) delivery team lead, U.S. Army Security Assistance Command, commending participants for being at the top of their game. “I enjoyed watching the Tobyhanna/DLA team in action.”
Security aid from the U.S. is meant to help Ukraine boost its military strength through the reform of their Armed Forces, National Guard and border control.
The Army sent two AN/TPQ-36 radars to Ukraine last year as part of the presidential drawdown, according to officials in the Logistics Readiness Center’s Security Assistance Management Directorate (SAMD), which is part of U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command.
The same officials said that Tobyhanna was easy to work with on this project.
“Everyone there was cooperative, knowledgeable and we’ve developed a good working relationship between CECOM, SAMD and Toby,” said Michelle Evans, acting chief of SAMD’s AFRICOM (African Command), Canada, and EUCOM Division. “The whole project went smoothly.”
The four radars recently delivered are a follow up under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which is a congressional appropriation for this year, according to Evans. Furthermore, the customer offered to fund a sustainment package tasking Tobyhanna to perform quarterly visits and do preventative and corrective maintenance on the radars, generators and vehicles, she said. Personnel have total visibility and responsibility for Army radar and sustainment cases that fall within the division.
“The radars had been overhauled by depot personnel and placed in stock prior to being tagged for foreign military sales,” said Tim Higgins, chief of the Production Management Directorate’s Air Defense and Counter Fire Systems Branch. Within 30 days of notification, 12 Humvees, eight generators, four shelters and antenna groups, and 10 LCMRs were prepped and loaded onto an aircraft bound for Ukraine, he added.
“Everyone did an outstanding job,” Higgins said. “Communication was great at all levels of the process and Team Tobyhanna was able to adapt the production schedule to make this happen without impacting the mission.”
Reports from the field indicate the long trip triggered minor repair work. Overall, the onsite technicians report positive progress.
Live-fire tests will be conducted once all the systems are fully mission capable, according to an electronics mechanic deployed to Ukraine. After the fielding, the team will remain on site during the training in case any technical issues arise.
“Host nation support has been great,” he said. “They’ve provided all the logistics we need to tackle both missions, plus an interpreter. Our training and the support from the depot will allow us to succeed even if something unexpected occurs.” The counter fire radar specialist is assigned to the C4ISR Directorate.
Other depot employees traveling to Ukraine include two general equipment mechanics, who will make sure the generators for the systems are fully functional.
“These generators have been through some tough testing so I know they will meet the demand of the systems,” said one of the mechanics who works in the Mobile Electric Power and Environmental Control Unit Branch.
Another team member and 11-year veteran of radar repair explained that the team has to replace the fluids that were drained before the flight to get the generators back online. Then he’ll inspect the Humvees and trailers for any damage, and do necessary repairs. The tactical vehicle specialist works in the Tactical Vehicle Branch.
“Once everything checks out, the assets will be turned over to Ukraine’s government,” he said.
Ukraine’s military is learning from a multi-national training team that includes U.S. Army Soldiers, Canadian Armed Forces and the Lithuanian Land Forces.
The Joint Multinational Training Group-Ukraine is the name for the training mission being conducted by U.S. forces. There is a small contingent of Army forces in country on a rotating basis to field equipment and train soldiers.
Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna's Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C4ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners.
Tobyhanna's unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum logistics support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, post production software support, technology insertion, modification, foreign military sales and global field support to our Joint Warfighters.
About 3,200 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania. Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, the command’s mission is to research, develop, acquire, field and sustain communications, command, control computer, intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors capabilities for the Armed Forces.