The U.S. Air Force has launched a full and open competition on the development of a new Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System to support airborne battle management command-and-control, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations of joint and coalition forces.
A request for proposal document for the JSTARS Recapitalization program outlines airframe, radar, communication technology and battle management C2 package requirements, the Air Force said Wednesday.
The Air Force released the solicitation notice after Boeing (NYSE: BA), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC) completed pre-engineering and manufacturing development efforts under the program as part of the companies’ pre-EMD contracts with the service branch.
Program officials said the pre-EMD phase of the JSTARS Recap initiative aimed to evaluate the maturity of subsystem technology, cut integration risk of weapon systems and provide input for the RFP.
The upcoming contract covers the delivery of three initial JSTARS Recap weapon systems for testing and has options for low-rate initial production of an additional two systems as well as full-rate production of 12 systems under lots 1 to 3.
The Air Force added the contract also includes options for the development of ground training and mission planning and processing systems, system integration laboratories and support equipment and spares.
The branch aims to select a winning contractor in fiscal year 2018 and reach initial operational capability for the next JSTARS aircraft by the fourth quarter of fiscal 2024.
