5-7 ADA BN completes PDB8 upgrades

Photo By Maj. William Duvall | Members of the 5-7 ADA BN participate in PDB8; upgrades, gunnery and the MRX, increasing their overall effectiveness as a Patriot BN, Fall, 2018, Baumholder, Germany  

GERMANY

11.21.2018

Story by Capt. William Duvall 

263rd Army Air Missile Defense Command

BAUMHOLDER, Germany - The 5-7, Air Defense Artillery Battalion, headquartered in Baumholder, Germany, is involved in the Post Deployment Build - 8 (PDB-8), which is the software that compliments the four major hardware upgrades of their air defense equipment, during a several month retrofit, Landsthul, Germany, 2018.

The complete upgrade takes about 18 weeks and includes the hardware modifications, testing, and training on the new systems and equipment.

"The PDB - 8 upgrades are important to the BN primarily because some of the new features in the PDB-8 software and Radar Set significantly improve friendly protect measures. If the BN can quickly assess who is friendly, then we can engage enemy threats quicker in the future," shares Maj. Mary Thornton, 5-7 ADA BN Executive Officer. "As the only Patriot BN in the EUCOM AOR, it is imperative for us to quickly and positively identify threats and engagements as soon as possible. Additionally, our user interface has been upgraded significantly to allow the user better interaction with the system. Also, our communication upgrades allow us to have many more options for communication links between the units. "

Once the upgrades are complete, the BN will immediately conduct gunnery certifications in preparation for the warfighting season throughout the next year. With all of the EUCOM and USAREUR exercises scheduled, there is ample opportunity to demonstrate their capability and what they bring to the fight as the only US Patriot Battalion in theater.

"One of the challenges we have faced is the turnaround between the upgrades and our exercise," said Chief Brandon Barlow, Delta Battery. "Typically we have some time to set up and work on getting the system operational before an exercise, this time we have hit the ground running setting up and getting the kinks out while performing gunnery."

The entire BN was involved in this upgrade. Maintenance crews are performing physical upgrades while tacticians are attending to new equipment training ICW. Units conducted convoys to and from the upgrade facility and then will be testing the equipment in the field.

Launcher Reload crews continually practice reloading launching stations with new PAC-3 training rounds as many of the launchers were also upgraded. A large part of the success is due to the team work within the BN and the hardworking soldiers.

"When talking about the upgrades from PDB-8, switching from analog to digital, the communication is better," reports Capt. Dillion Jordan, 5-7 ADA BN. "We are out here (exercise and gunnery) getting set up and trying to make sure we can all communicate with the upgrade systems."

"Balancing the unit's readiness with the upgrades was also a demanding task that we overcame by reducing scheduling conflicts, allowing us to have certified crews and available equipment at all times," added Thornton.

Ultimately, the goal is to maintain continuity and incorporating these new capabilities within the IAMD community as well as working with our allies in this theater.

• Date Taken: 11.21.2018
• Date Posted: 11.21.2018 09:36
• Story ID: 300839
• Location: DE