Lockheed Martin will be playing a part in helping with homeland defense over the next decade.
The Missile Defense Agency awarded a team led by Lockheed Martin a contract to develop, build and test a Long Range Discrimination Radar. The radar system will support a layered ballistic missile defense strategy to protect the United States homeland from ballistic missile attacks.
“We are proud and honored that our innovative employees were selected to deliver this critical national security program in defense of our homeland. The LRDR is based on Mission Systems and Training’s more than 40 years of work on solid state radar and ballistic missile defense; experience in land-based radar design and construction; proven maintenance and sustainment approaches; and our experience in S-band radar discrimination,” said Melissa Chadwick, media relations for Lockheed Martin Corporation, in an email.
The nine-year contract, with options, will have the potential contract value of approximately $784 million. Work on the contract will be primarily performed in Moorestown as well as Alaska, Alabama, Florida and New York.
“This is great news for Lockheed Martin and even better news for the Moorestown community,” Rep. Tom MacArthur said in a release. “A strong missile defense is critical to protecting our homeland and troops abroad, as well as our allies. The LRDR radar is a welcome addition to our national security missile defense system and will help to keep Americans safe.”
LRDR is a high-powered S-Band radar incorporating solid-state gallium nitride components and will be capable of discriminating threats at extreme distances. LRDR is a key component of the MDA’s Ballistic Missile Defense System that will provide acquisition, tracking and discrimination data to enable separate defense systems to lock on and engage ballistic missile threats, a capability that stems from Lockheed Martin’s decades of experience in creating ballistic missile defense systems for the U.S. and allied governments.
“The U.S. has a limited number of ground-based interceptors to detect threats, yet the number of potential missile threats — and countermeasures used to hide those threats — is growing,” said Carl Bannar, vice president of Lockheed Martin’s Integrated Warfare Systems and Sensors business, in a release. “Our offering meets the MDA’s vision for LRDR by pairing innovative radar discrimination capability with proven ballistic missile defense algorithms.”
“Ballistic missile threats are growing more sophisticated and complex requiring better discrimination capability. In Ballistic Missile Defense terms, discrimination means precise long-distance detection and characterization of ballistic missiles. LRDR will be able to distinguish threats from decoy missiles and offer precise guidance to interceptor missiles that will eliminate these threats,” Chadwick said.
When constructed, LRDR will consist of a solid-state, active electronically scanned antenna, and the facility to house and operate this radar antenna. Lockheed Martin’s proposed LRDR system will be built on an aggressive timeline ready for operational testing in Clear Air Force Station in Alaska by 2020.
The period of performance is Oct. 21 through Jan. 21, 2024. Fiscal 2015 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $35.5 million are being obligated at time of award.
For additional information, visitwww.lockheedmartin.com/lrdr.
