New Year's Day

And as is the case with the last day of every fiscal year, the Pentagon yesterday rushed to wrap up as many contract awards as it possibly could. Final count: Sixty-six contracts were included in the Sept. 30 Defense Department daily contracts list, with a cumulative value of more than $6 billion.

Among those awarded yesterday -- but not the largest deals -- were three contracts to develop technology for the Air and Missile Defense Radar (AMDR) S-band and radar suite controller (RSC). Northrop Grumman got $120 million, Lockheed Martin $119.2 million and Raytheon $112.3 million, according to DOD. Specifically:

AMDR is envisioned as a radar suite containing an S-band radar, an X-band radar and RSC and will be designed to be scalable to accommodate current and future mission requirements for multiple platforms. The AMDR-S will provide volume search, tracking, ballistic missile defense discrimination and missile communications. The AMDR-X will provide horizon search, precision tracking, missile communication and terminal illumination. The RSC will perform all coordination actions to ensure that both radars operate in concert in a widely diverse environment.

Hours before the contract announcement, Inside the Pentagon broke news about the way ahead for the AMDR program:

The Pentagon is advancing development of the Navy's Air and Missile Defense Radar while seeking new ways to coordinate the program with a key Air Force radar initiative, according to Defense Department, service and industry officials.

The Defense Department is poised to launch the AMDR program's technology development phase, paving the way for further contract awards while pressing to bolster ties with the Air Force's Space Fence program, Inside the Pentagon has learned.

The AMDR program is intended to meet integrated-air-and-missile-defense needs for multiple ship classes by developing a suite that includes an S-band radar (AMDR-S), an X-band radar (AMDR-X) and a Radar Suite Controller (RSC). The Space Fence program, meanwhile, is developing two to three ground-based, S-band sensors to better detect and track space junk orbiting Earth that can damage satellites. Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon are involved in the early stages of both programs.

The Defense Acquisition Board, chaired by Pentagon procurement chief Ashton Carter, had been slated to hold a meeting in August to approve the AMDR program's entry into the technology development phase with a milestone A decision. But the board opted instead to endorse the move simply by issuing a memo, a fast-track approval process known as a "paper DAB."

"The AMDR milestone A DAB did go paper, based on the recommendations of the [overarching integrated product team]," Pentagon spokeswoman Cheryl Irwin told ITP. Officials have been crafting the memo that will formalize the move.