Air Force awards Lockheed contract to obtain three 3DELRR

The Air Force on Thursday awarded Lockheed Martin a roughly $65 million contract to produce three more of its Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar units, according to the Defense Department.

This move is part of a series of modifications to the original contract, which was awarded in March 2022 and included options for 35 total radars. It brings the cumulative value of the contract to $260.6 million.

Work under the new contract is expected to be completed by the end of 2026 and will be performed in Liverpool, New York. The Air Force previously said initial operational capability, for 6 radars, would be achieved in fiscal year 2024.

The first two 3DELRR initial production units were procured through the original contract in 2022, and another four in January 2023.

Last August, the DOD inspector general found the Air Force did not properly use the rapid middle tier of acquisition (MTA) pathway for the program and that it moved on from prototyping to fielding too quickly. The report recommended that the Air Force request a waiver to extend the five-year timeline for rapid fielding to “return the time lost by transitioning to the rapid fielding path early.”