The U.S. Air Force has selected Northrop Grumman (NYSE: NOC), Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) and Australia-based CEA Technologies to rapidly develop and demonstrate this summer their 3D expeditionary long-range radar prototypes.
The service said Monday CEA will demonstrate its 3DELRR prototype under a Foreign Comparative Test award, while Lockheed and Northrop will perform work through other transaction agreements as part of the SpeedDealer demonstration program.
3DELRR will replace the Air Force’s AN/TPS-75 radar system and will serve as the principal ground-based sensor for detection, tracking and surveillance of aerial targets at long-ranges.
The companies will each get $500K to demonstrate maintenance concepts, performance and capabilities of their radar systems no later than Sept. 30.
The service may award production contracts by the end of calendar year 2020 upon completion of the platforms’ demonstration and expects a production-ready radar to achieve initial operational capability by late fiscal year 2024.
The Air Force issued the SpeedDealer solicitation in March.
