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Oct. 30 (UPI) -- The Missile Defense Agency announced late Friday that Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems would be awarded a new deal worth a reported $1.5 billion for advanced surveillance radar systems. The contract between the MDA and Raytheon calls for the defense contractor to provide operations and sustainment for the Army Navy Transportable Radar Surveillance Model 2, or AN/TPY-2, and the Sea-Based X-Band, or SBX, radar system.
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The AN/TPY-2 is a missile-defense radar that can detect, classify and track ballistic missiles. The system uses X-band frequencies in the microwave radio region of the electromagnetic spectrum for rapid target acquisition and clarity.
The X-band frequencies enable the system to operate in two modes -- one that detects ballistic missiles as they rise, and another that guides interceptors toward a warheads as they descend.
Similarly, the SBX radar system is the world's largest X-band radar, as it sits on the stand at more than 250 feet high and displaces more than 50,000 tons of water.
The SBX radar directly supports the Ground-Based Midcourse Defense phase of the Missile Defense Agency Ballistic Missile Defense System in order to search, acquire, track, discrimination and kill assessment missions.
The $1.5 billion contract is classified as an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract with cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-plus-incentive-fee line items, meaning that Raytheon will be reimbursed by the U.S. government for additional costs over the lifespan of the contract in delivering the final product.
MDA officials say fiscal 2017 research, development, test and evaluation funds will be awarded to Raytheon in the amount of $1,252,264 at time of award. The majority of the work will be performed in Woburn, Mass., and in several other locations in the United States and overseas.
The ordering period for the AN/TPY-2 and the SBX radar system is from Nov. 1, 2017, through Oct. 31, 2020, with four successive one-year option periods provided in the contract.
