The Air Force has amended the current solicitation for the Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar (3DELRR) to include options for full-rate production, according to a USAF release. The service originally awarded an Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) contract to Raytheon in 2014 for the next-generation radar, which will track aircraft, missiles, and remotely piloted aircraft. However, rival competitors Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman protested the award and the Air Force eventually changed its mind based on advice from the Government Accountability Office. Raytheon then appealed that decision, but a US federal claims court last year rejected the claim, allowing the Air Force to reopen the contract. The contract, which USAF now expects to award in the second quarter of this fiscal year, will include EMD, low-rate initial production, interim contractor support, and full-rate production, according to the release. Competition for the 3DELRR contract is limited to “the incumbent prime contractors”—Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Raytheon—for the “pre-EMD period of the … technology development phase,” states the release. “We’re eager to get on contract in order to provide this critical system to the warfighter,” said Col. Michael Harm, theater battle control division chief and senior materiel leader. The service expects the new radar to fully replace the AN/TPS-75 radars by 2028.
U.S. Air Force F-35s and F-22s regularly deploy deep into the Pacific region from Alaska, Utah, and Hawaii. In the future, though, the head of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would like to see the Air Force permanently station fifth-generation aircraft west of the international date line—closer to China.