Raytheon will not protest the Space Fence contract award, company spokesman Mike Nachshen told Air Force Magazine. “Raytheon put forward the most affordable, lowest-risk solution, which drew heavily on the company’s experience as the world leader in building large phased-array radars in austere parts of the world. But, after reviewing the results of the debrief, we believe not protesting the Space Fence decision is the right thing to do for the Air Force, the warfighter, and Raytheon,” Nachshen said via email. He declined to elaborate on why the company felt this was the right thing to for the Air Force. Lockheed Martin won a $914.7 million contract for the engineering, manufacturing, development, and the production and deployment of the Space Fence in early June.
The U.S. military is maintaining a beefed-up presence in the Middle East, including fighters and air defense assets, following the U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities June 22 and subsequent retaliation by the Iranians against Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.