Direct proof of use
The Director, Operational Test and Evaluation reported that Quick Reaction Capability AN/TPQ-53 radar fielding began in 2010 with ten systems operating in Iraq and Afghanistan. The same FY2011 report described the radar's mission as locating threat rocket, artillery, and mortar systems for counterfire, and supporting Counter Rocket, Artillery, and Mortar warning and engagement functions for friendly-force protection.
Military Embedded Systems reporting on a 2013 U.S. Army contract also stated that the Army began deploying Q-53 systems to Afghanistan and Iraq for combat in fall 2010. That reporting identified the system as the former EQ-36 and described it as a long-range radar intended to protect soldiers from indirect fire.
Sources: Enhanced AN/TPQ-36 FY2011 DOT&E Report, Lockheed Martin wins Q-53 counterfire radar systems contract
Timeline
In 2010, the Army began fielding the Quick Reaction Capability radar fleet, with DOT&E reporting ten systems operating across Iraq and Afghanistan. In September 2011, the Army designated the QRC radar system as the AN/TPQ-53, and DOT&E reported that twelve QRC AN/TPQ-53 radars had completed initial fielding in July 2011.
By 2012, DOT&E described the Q-53 as a mobile radar for detecting, classifying, and tracking projectiles fired from mortar, artillery, and rocket systems. The FY2012 report said five QRC systems were operating in Afghanistan, which narrows later public theater reporting but does not identify how many of the earlier ten Iraq-and-Afghanistan systems remained in Iraq.
Sources: Enhanced AN/TPQ-36 FY2011 DOT&E Report, Q-53 FY2012 DOT&E Report
Operational role
In Iraq, the AN/TPQ-53 was documented as a U.S. Army counterfire and force-protection sensor rather than a weapon that delivered fire itself. Its supported functions were locating indirect-fire points of origin, estimating impact locations, feeding warning systems, and providing target-location data that could support counterfire engagements by other systems.
The public sources cited here support theater operation by U.S. forces and the general counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar mission. They do not identify a named Iraqi base, a specific engagement, an enemy launch point located by a particular AN/TPQ-53 radar, or whether any individual radar remained in Iraq after the 2010-2011 initial fielding period.
Sources: Enhanced AN/TPQ-36 FY2011 DOT&E Report, Q-53 FY2012 DOT&E Report, Lockheed Martin wins Q-53 counterfire radar systems contract
