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.
Amid a high-profile recruiting crisis, Air Force leaders and experts have increasingly noted the challenging long-term trends the service will face in enticing young Americans to sign up—decreasing eligibility to serve, less propensity to do so, and less familiarity with the military. But while those same leaders say there’s no “silver…