WASHINGTON — The
Long Range Discrimination Radar that will be operational in Alaska in 2020 has
passed the preliminary design review phase, hitting a major milestone for the
program in less than 18 months from the contract award in October 2015,
Lockheed Martin announced Thursday.
The LRDR is a
gallium nitride-based, solid-state active electronically scanned array radar.
Lockheed’s other gallium nitride, or GaN, projects include the U.S. Air Force’s
Space Fence — to be built at Kwajalein Atoll on the Pacific island — and new
long-range radar it expects to bring to market as well as offer to the U.S.
Army’s potential Integrated Air and Missile Defense radar in a competition
planned for this year.
The very large and
powerful radar will support the ballistic missile defense system, primarily for
the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system, or GMD, set up to defend the
homeland against missile threats from North Korea and Iran. It will be
networked to the company’s Command, Control, Battle Management, and Communications
system.
The Missile Defense
Agency awarded the $784 million contract in fewer than two years to Lockheed
after an intense competition. Lockheed beat out Raytheon and Northrop Grumman.
The LRDR will be
positioned in Clear, Alaska. GMD interceptors are buried in the ground at both
Fort Greely, Alaska, and Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.
Passing the
preliminary design review means Lockheed demonstrated a Technology Readiness
Level of 6, which means it’s no longer developmental, and a Manufacturing
Readiness Level of 6, “putting the team on a path to achieve TRL 7 later this
year,” which would allow the program to transition to the manufacturing phase,
according to a company statement.
Lockheed used a
“scaled” LRDR system to demonstrate technology in an environment relevant to
its real mission, the statement noted.
The company also has
a new Solid State Radar Integration Site, which is self-funded, to test
technology readiness and offer risk reduction as the radar continues down the
development path. Future solid-state radar systems will be tested there as
well.
“The Solid State
Radar Integration Site will be used to mature, integrate and test the LRDR
design and building blocks before we deliver the radar to Alaska. Using this
test site will result in significant cost savings and less risk overall,”
Chandra Marshall, Lockheed’s LRDR program director, said in the statement.
LRDR construction in
Alaska is scheduled to begin in 2019, and Lockheed will begin integrating the
radar into the ballistic missile defense system by the end of the year.
No comments:
Post a Comment