Air Force chooses Lockheed as 3DELRR provider

By Briana Reilly / March 9, 2022 at 4:55 PM

The Air Force has opted to move forward with Lockheed Martin as the provider of its Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar, following a recompete between the company and Northrop Grumman to replace the legacy AN/TPS-75 system.

Announced today by Hanscom Air Force Base, MA, the selection comes two years after the service terminated a contract >with Raytheon for the radar due to technical challenges during development.

Both Lockheed and Northrop received integration contracts in 2021, which included options to produce up to 35 radars. Col. Erik Rhylander, senior materiel leader of the Theater Battle Control Division, said in today’s press release the service’s acquisition strategy gave officials the option to offer production contracts to one or both of the companies.

While Rhylander called the offerings “impressive,” he said when taking into account capabilities, production and sustainment cost and residual technical risks, officials concluded Lockheed's system “provides the best overall value for the Air Force.”

Currently, the release states, “the Air Force only intends to enter production with Lockheed Martin.”

Mike Meaney, Northrop’s vice president of land and maritime sensors, said in a statement to Inside Defense that the company has received notification from the service of its decision not to exercise production options on its contract, and executives “are awaiting a debriefing to learn more about the basis for this decision.”

“The company’s AN/TPY-5(V)1 3DAdvantage offering is field-proven, highly mobile, and ready for delivery,” he added.

Northrop is the developer of the legacy system that 3DELRR will replace, and the company unsuccessfully competed for the initial follow-on radar contract, which was awarded to Raytheon in 2014. Northrop and Lockheed protested the decision, leading the Air Force to re-bid, and Northrop to drop out ahead of the second round of competition, which Raytheon again won.

Following the Air Force’s decision to cancel its contract with Raytheon in 2020, the service held a "Speed Dealer" demonstration phase to facilitate the quick selection of a radar design and keep the program on schedule to achieve initial operational capability by fiscal year 2024. Both Lockheed and Northrop were involved in that demo, which paved the way for the integration contracts the following year.

Ultimately, Lockheed confirmed to Inside Defense in May 2021 that it offered its TPY-X for the competition, while Northrop offered a new design, dubbed the 3D Advantage.

The service’s FY-22 budget request includes $96 million to buy the first three 3DELRR initial production units, an ask that congressional appropriators have fully funded in their spending bill plan released today. Once that bill is adopted, today’s release states program officials expect “to exercise options for the initial radars.”

The service is using Mid-Tier Acquisition authorities to field six radars by FY-24.

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