Teams led by Lockheed Martin and Sensis said they have both successfully completed demonstrations of their respective Three Dimensional Expeditionary Long Range Radar prototypes for the Air Force. “Our 3DELRR development initiatives, which were initiated in 2002, have paid off by substantially reducing the program risk and culminating in the development of a full-scale operational prototype in 19 months,” said Dave Kovarik, Sensis’ ground-based radar vice president, in the company’s release. “We have applied both new technology advances and our knowledge gained from decades of experience developing and maintaining 178 long-range surveillance radars currently operational around the world,” said Lockheed’s program director Mark Mekker, in Lockheed’s release. The Air Force wants 3DELRR to replace its AN/TPS-75 air-surveillance radars. Both teams have been competing since May 2009 under technology development contracts. The service is expected to select the winner by early next year.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.