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US Air Force awards contract for next-gen 3D radar

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Air Force awards deal for next-gen 3D radar -- Defense Systems

TPS75radar.png

Airmen deploy a TPS-75 radar, which the Air Force plans to replace with new 3D systems.


The Air Force is moving toward its next generation of radar systems with the recent award to Raytheon for its Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar (3DELRR).

The $19.5 million contract covers the engineering, manufacturing and development phase for three of the systems, and the contract could reach nearly $72 million if all of its options are exercised, the Air Force said in arelease.

The new 3D systems, which will provide long-range, ground-based detection, identification and tracking of aircraft and missiles, will replace the legacy TPS-75 radar, which has formed the backbone of ground-based air defense since 1968.

Raytheon won the contract over Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman after a competition in which each developed prototype systems.

The Air Force expects eventually to buy 35 3DELRR systems. After the initial three systems are developed and tested—expected by October 2018—three others are expected to be produced under an option for an 18-month low-rate initial production, with operational capability planned for 2020. The Air Force then plans to award a follow-on contract for full-rate production of 29 more systems.

Raytheon says its 3DELRR system is a Gallium Nitride-based radar that uses the largely uncongested C-Band of the electromagnetic spectrum, which will enable accurate identification of a diverse range of objects over great distances.

“The new 3DELRR radar will be capable of detecting certain current and emerging threats that the TPS-75 is incapable of seeing," Kevin Ray, the pre-EMD phase chief engineer, said in the Air Force release. "In addition, the radar's improved system reliability will drive down operating and support costs and enhance the operational availability for the warfighter."
 
While the radar itself is a good achievement, the biggest take away from this article has to be the use of Gallium Nitride. This substance will revolutionize the clarity, range and power of a radar due to its wide band gap of 3.4 eV, which improves the power output of high-frequency systems.

Gallium Arsenide allowed for AESA systems in the 80s by miniturizing many components of the radar array, Gallium Nitride will take AESA improvements even further by improving the detection and discrimination abilites of the array and receiver.
 

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