HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass., Jan. 26 (UPI) -- The U.S. Air Force says development of a three-dimensional expeditionary long-range radar is about to enter a new stage.
Initial technology development is nearly finished by Lockheed Martin and Sensis Corp. and a request for proposal that will include the remainder of the technology development phase and options for engineering and manufacturing development and low-rate initial production will follow, the Air Force Materiel Command said.
"3DELRR will be the primary ground-based long-range radar for tracking aircraft and ballistic missile threats in theater," said Air Force Maj. Brian McDonald, 3DELRR program manager. "It will replace the Air Force's current radar, the TPS-75, as the air surveillance asset used by the Joint Forces Air Component Commander for controlling theater air operations as the airspace control authority and area air defense commander."
The initial development contract finishes next month.
The Air Force said 3DELRR will capture the best industry has to offer in Advanced Electronically Scanned Array radar technology, as well as leverage more commercial-off-the-shelf components and an open architecture.
"We anticipate release of the RFP to occur at or near the end of March 2011," McDonald said. "It will be a full and open competition with a single contract award."
The contract award, anticipated to occur in the January 2012 time frame, could be worth close to $740 million.
