As the U.S. Army prepares for formal testing to evaluate a system to protect combat vehicles from shoulder-fired and tube-launched Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs), Raytheon Company's Quick Kill Active Protection System (APS) has again shown its maturity and accuracy in a series of tests.

In a recent test, held in December 2012, the Quick Kill APS demonstrated its protective capability by successfully defeating an extended set of threats, including one of the most lethal RPG threats by destroying it in mid-flight. All testing is in preparation for formal government evaluations in early 2013 to demonstrate the system's unique RPG-defeat capabilities.

"Raytheon's APS is based on the same radar technology deployed to perform sense and warn operations at active Forward Operating Bases. It has been extremely successful in providing timely warning against rocket and mortar attacks," said Jeff Miller, vice president of Combat and Sensing Systems for Raytheon's Network Centric Systems business.

"With Quick Kill," he added, "Raytheon has matured a highly advanced system, offering our forces an unprecedented force protection capability that is essential to the future survivability of combat vehicles. This technology is ready and could begin fielding within a year."

The Quick Kill system consists of a multi-mission, fire-control radar that detects and tracks incoming threats, combined with hard-kill countermeasures that serve as a hit avoidance system, enabling multi-tracking and multi-engagement of enemy fire for vehicle and squad protection.

The system's vertical launch countermeasure is unique in its ability to engage threats fired from any angle or elevation, providing all weather, full 360 degree hemispherical vehicle and crew protection with each countermeasure.

In previous tests, the system demonstrated its ability to defeat multiple threat types both from a stationary and an on-the-move platform - and it showed its multi-threat capability by defeating two simultaneous threats.