Navy awards $27 million contract for new surface fleet radar

The Navy last week awarded the first contract to begin developing a new surface fleet radar that was recommended for accelerated fielding following the 2017 collisions in U.S. 7th Fleet.

Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems was awarded a $27 million contract on Friday to "outline the requirements and approach" for Next Generation Surface Search Radar development and production, according to a March 15 Defense Department statement. If all options are exercised the contract will be worth $34.5 million.

"The primary objective of NGSSR is to find a replacement for legacy systems due to current military threats and obsolescence issues," according to the statement. "The contract aims to outline the requirements and approach for NGSSR development, production, integration, test, demonstration, product support, and systems engineering."

In July 2018, the Navy asked Congress for permission to reprogram $8.5 million to accelerate the production and fielding of NGSSR. The service opted to quicken the system's development as part of reforms made following two high-profile U.S. 7th Fleet collisions in 2017.

In fiscal year 2019, the service plans to "complete software development; procure and test NGSSR qualification units; and finalize NGSSR hardware configuration," according to the Navy's FY-19 budget justification books.