Aces High: USA Developing New 3DELRR Long-Range Ground Radar
Mar 31, 2013 14:00 UTC by Defense Industry Daily staff
March 29/13: Iterating through drafts. The program office is requesting participating contractors to review draft Revision F of their Technical Requirements Document (TRD) which supports Revision B of the draft RFP introduced in January. Sections L and M of this latest revision, respectively reflecting instructions to offerors and evaluation factors for award, will be posted later. The TRD is available for parties under a Militarily Critical Technical Data Agreement. So far, this looks in line with the plan they announced two months ago. FBO.
March 28/13: GAO Report. The US GAO tables its “Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs” for 2013. Which is actually a review for 2012, plus time to compile and publish.
For 3DELRR, the GAO estimates the total program cost at $FY13 2.1131 billion: $771.1 million RDT&E, plus $1.3421 billion for 35 systems and associated gear. The program still hopes to start system development by December 2013 (Q1 FY 2014), with Full Operational Capability still scheduled for late 2019 (Q1 FY 2020).
March 27/13: NGC. Northrop Grumman touts a recent demonstration, in which a G/ATOR radar with some software modifications tracks 5 NASA ATREX suborbital rockets fired from Wallops Island, VA. The rockets release chemical tracer clouds into the high altitude jet stream, in order to exercise mind control despite tinfoil hats (censored) help scientists study the jet stream’s flow 60-65 miles above the earth.
Northrop Grumman is touting G/ATOR’s ability to evolve into 3DELRR’s requirements (q.v. Readings), and this announcement is part of that campaign. The question that Northrop Grumman wouldn’t/ couldn’t answer for us involves whether the radar tracked the rockets as they were launched and boosting (easier technical problem, classic counterfire/ air defense, and Wallops is also a major radar test site), or picked up the rockets in mid-flight at high altitude (harder/ higher power problem, classic BMD). NGC | NASA.
(click to view full)
The US Air Force’s AN/TPS-75 radar has been in service since 1968. Threats have evolved, and they want to replace it as its main long-range, ground-based radar for detecting, identifying and tracking aircraft and missiles, then reporting them through the Ground Theater Air Control System. The US Marines are considering a similar move, to replace their own AN/TPS-59s. Hence the USA’s Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar (3DELRR, pron. “Three Dealer”).
3DELRR is intended to provide long-range surveillance, control of aircraft, and theater ballistic missile detection. It will correct AN/TPS-75 shortfalls by being easier to maintain, thanks to AESA technology, and by detecting and reporting highly maneuverable and/or stealthy targets. Its improved resolution may even allow it to classify and determine the type of non-cooperative aircraft that cannot or do not identify themselves – a trait that allows faster engagement of hostile planes, and reduces the odds of friendly fire incidents. As long as the program itself can avoid friendly fire from the USA’s budget wars.
3DELRR: Mission & Program
The FBO.gov solicitation for 3DELRR defines its purpose as follows:
“The primary mission of the 3DELRR will be to provide long-range surveillance, control of aircraft, and theater ballistic missile detection. The 3DELRR will provide air controllers with a precise, real-time air picture of sufficient quality to conduct close control of individual aircraft under a wide range of environmental and operational conditions. In the case of theater missile defense operations, the new radar will have the capability to detect, track, and disseminate target information to respective command and control nodes such as the USAF Control and Reporting Center to disseminate for warning and engagement. Similarly, the joint targeting process will benefit from trajectory information provided by the 3DELRR, which will include launch and impact location. The 3DELRR will correct current radar system shortfalls by providing the capability to detect and report highly maneuverable, small radar cross section targets as well as discriminate the type of a non-cooperative aircraft. It will also mitigate most of the sustainability and maintainability concerns which plague the current system.”
Once the Technical Development Phase was complete, the USAF initially intended to award the System Design & Development (SDD) to the winning team around 2011, but a combination of budget cuts and new procurement philosophies forced a shift.
By September 2011, that shift had become pronounced. By March 2012, the entire acquisition plan had changed, all the way through development of the operational system (EMD), and initial production & fielding (LRIP).
2012: A Change in Plans
Click here for the full-size graphic of plan changes.
Instead of awarding a Technology Development (TD) Phase 2 contract to either Sensis or Lockheed Martin, with built-in options to take the radar all the way into production, a contract around the end of FY 2012 will throw the competition open again, and award up to 3 TD contracts worth up to $108 million in total. These will be fixed-price awards, not the usual cost-plus with incentives.
That fixed-price type contract approach will continue in the next 2 phases, after a single contractor has been chosen in the project’s 3rd competition, and given a contract to take the project beyond Milestone B into production and fielding. That winning choice will be based on “lowest price technically acceptable” criteria, rather than “best value.”
In sync with that shift, one of the TD Phase’s goals will be to understand the cost/capability tradeoffs. Most cost is always tied up in design, which is to say in specifications. The Requirements Analysis in SOW Para 1.9.19 will try to reorder or change specifications, in order to eliminate requirements that drive high costs but don’t change the radar’s capabilities enough. The Army sees the cost drivers as “Mobility, Accuracy, False Alarms, Surveillance Volume, and Range,” but they’re prepared to be surprised by industry offerings.
This may push the competition toward existing designs and technology, given the need for assured costs inherent in a fixed-price bid. Northrop Grumman certainly hopes so, as they believe that their existing USMC G/ATOR battlefield radar solution could be upgraded to handle 3DELRR as well. A solution that could replace the Marines’ existing AN/TPS-59 radars with the same technology used by their shorter-range G/ATOR companion might be very appealing, and other competitors may also find ways to incorporate commonalities into their solutions.
The program’s doors will be open to them. Once this new “TD Review E” is done, a final specification will allow final Engineering & Manufacturing Development (EMD) Phase bids to be solicited from any qualified source, not just the TD Phase 2 winners.
The Milestone B decision to begin EMD development of the final 3DELRR system remains targeted at Q1 FY 2014, but the Critical Design Review will come after a winner has been picked, instead of at the end of a single-contractor TD Phase.
The single EMD winner is expected to continue development into the end of 2017 (Q1 FY 2018), and the fall Milestone C decision that authorizes Low-Rate Initial Production. Initial Operational Capability with the USAF is now tagged at fall 2019 (Q1 FY 2020).
A new twist was introduced in early 2013 as the program office went beyond the EMD-LRIP scope of its RFP and added full rate production to it.
Contracts and Key Events
Unless otherwise noted, contracts for the 3DELRR program are awarded by the Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, MA.
FY 2012-2013
TD Phase 2. EMD-LRIP-FRP RFP.
March 29/13: Iterating through drafts. The program office is requesting participating contractors to review draft Revision F of their Technical Requirements Document (TRD) which supports Revision B of the draft RFP introduced in January. Sections L and M of this latest revision, respectively reflecting instructions to offerors and evaluation factors for award, will be posted later. The TRD is available for parties under a Militarily Critical Technical Data Agreement. So far, this looks in line with the plan they announced two months ago. FBO.
(click to view full)
March 28/13: GAO Report. The US GAO tables its “Assessments of Selected Weapon Programs” for 2013. Which is actually a review for 2012, plus time to compile and publish.
For 3DELRR, the GAO estimates the total program cost at $FY13 2.1131 billion: $771.1 million RDT&E, plus $1.3421 billion for 35 systems and associated gear. The program still hopes to start system development by December 2013 (Q1 FY 2014), with Full Operational Capability still scheduled for late 2019 (Q1 FY 2020).
Cost & schedule estimates
March 27/13: NGC. Northrop Grumman touts a recent demonstration, in which a G/ATOR radar with some software modifications tracks 5 NASA ATREX suborbital rockets fired from Wallops Island, VA. The rockets release chemical tracer clouds into the high altitude jet stream, in order to exercise mind control despite tinfoil hats (censored) help scientists study the jet stream’s flow 60-65 miles above the earth.
Northrop Grumman is touting G/ATOR’s ability to evolve into 3DELRR’s requirements (q.v. Readings), and this announcement is part of that campaign. The question that Northrop Grumman wouldn’t/ couldn’t answer for us involves whether the radar tracked the rockets as they were launched and boosting (easier technical problem, classic counterfire/ air defense, and Wallops is also a major radar test site), or picked up the rockets in mid-flight at high altitude (harder/ higher power problem, classic BMD). NGC | NASA.
Jan 24/13: Draft RFP reshaped. In Industry Day briefing materials [PDF], program manager Lt. Col. Brian McDonalds explains that the scope of RFP R2278 (first released in June 2012) now includes Full Rate Production. With this new approach, the EMD+FRP RFP is expected to be finalized by July 2013, with an award in March 2014.
This resets the counter on draft revisions, with the most current material again dubbed Revision A. FRP would be contracted as Fixed Price Incentive Firm (FPIF) with 6 priced options. 3 radars would be delivered during EMD, 3 others during LRIP (FY18-FY20), and 29 at the full rate pace (FY19-FY24). Requirements are expressed in TRD Rev E, another iteration to Ref F is expected by the time the request is final.
The program office acknowledges that funding remains uncertain, and that there’s a lot of work ahead in order to finalize the new RFP terms without blowing the schedule.
(click to view full)
August 20/12: TD Phase 2. All 3 firms receive firm-fixed-price contracts contracts for continued 3DELRR technology development, and a Preliminary Design Review and Capability Demonstration for their radar prototypes. The contracts run until Nov 20/13.
Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Sensors in Liverpool, NY receives $36 million (FA8707-12-C-0018).
Northrop Grumman’s Electronic Systems Division in Linthicum Heights, MD receives $34.8 million (FA8707-12-C-0019). NGC release.
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems in Sudbury, MA receives $35.2 million (FA8707-12-C-0020).
Sensis is no longer part of the competition as a lead, but Raytheon had been producing their AESA, so they could be included in the Raytheon team.
TD Phase 2
June 20/12: EMD-LRIP RFP. Air Force Materiel Command posts solicitation R2278 for the next stage of the program.
March 6/12: New approach. At an Industry Day, the 3DELRR program lays out its new program approach. It’s driven by $80 million in budget cuts over the next 5 years and, they say, by the readiness of current technologies. The 3DELRR Program Office is planning for a Defense Acquisition Board in late April 2012, and an initial set of contracts to develop AESA radars with Gallium Nitride transistors is expected by the end of FY 2012.
The 3DELRR program has also been selected as a “designated system” to participate in the Defense Exportability Features Pilot Program. Focusing on exportability tends to keep costs down, and successful exports will produce both economic and military benefits. See details, above. FBO.gov, incl. Presentation [PDF] | USAF.
New plan
FY 2009-2011
Technology Development; Review is positive.
April 2011: Tech review. An independent review team reports that 3DELRR successfully demonstrated its 8 critical technologies in a relevant environment during its initial prototyping effort. That’s a good sign; many Pentagon weapons programs don’t get to this point until late in System Design & Development/ EMD. Source: GAO.
Jan 6/11: Sensis. Sensis Corp. announces that its 3DELRR full-scale prototype have successfully completed testing, achieving all TD phase milestones after a development period of 19 months.
Sensis founder and CEO Jud Gostin was the principal system architect for the Marines’ AN/TPS-59. Raytheon IDS is responsible for the development and production of the team’s Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA). Moog Inc.’s Space and Defense Group, a leader in precision motion control solutions, is producing, testing and integrating the team’s 3DELRR’s motion control subsystems.
Dec 16-17/10: LMCO. Lockheed Martin completes the 2nd and final demonstration under its May 2009 3DELRR contract, following an initial demonstration of critical technology elements in March 2010, and a Preliminary Design Review in October 2010.
During the demonstration, Lockheed Martin unveils a functioning system prototype to USAF and Marine Corps officials, to prove the radar’s maturity. The firm says that their radar “addresses 100 percent of 3DELRR requirements, including critical extended air surveillance reach for early warning from threats, such as aircraft and ballistic missiles.” Lockheed Martin.
Dec 21/09: Sensis. Sensis announces that it has completed the System Requirements Review (SRR) for the US Air Force’s 3DELRR program. During SRR, the U.S. Air Force, along with industry organizations, conducted a comprehensive review of the Sensis 3DELRR systems engineering, integration and test processes against overall systems requirements to ensure that the program meets U.S. Air Force requirements.
Oct 29/09: RFP. The Air Force launches the THREE-DIMENSIONAL EXPEDITIONARY LONG-RANGE RADAR Solicitation Number: R2278 formal solicitation for 3DELRR.
(click to view full)
May 12/09: The US Air Force awards [PDF] a firm-fixed-price $24.9 contract to Lockheed Martin in Liverpool, NY to provide radar engineering and design support to the government during the technology development phase of 3DELRR program. The Lockheed Martin team includes BAE Systems, Computer Sciences Corp., and ManTech. At this time, $9.9 million has been obligated (FA8722-09-C-0003). See also Lockheed Martin release.
May 12/09: The US Air Force awards [PDF] a $21.9 million firm-fixed-price contract to Sensis Corp. in East Syracuse NY to provide radar engineering and design support to the government during the technology development phase of 3DELRR program. The Sensis team includes Raytheon and Moog. At this time, $9.9 million has been obligated (FA8722-09-C-0001). See also: Sensis news release.
TD contracts
Additional Readings
- US FBO.gov (Oct 29/09, #R2278) – Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar. Very long-running solicitation, last update was March 2013. See esp. the March 2012 Industry Day slide presentation [PDF].
- USAF Electronic Systems Center – Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar
- GlobalSecurity.org – Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar
- Northrop Grumman – G/ATOR for USAF 3DELRR
- Microwave Journal (July 2009) – Lockheed Martin to Develop Long-range Radar for US Air Force
