- Lockheed Martin has landed a potential $3 billion Army contract to continue work on the Sentinel A4 radar program
- The award covers production and engineering services through mid-2031
- Sentinel A4 is the Army’s next-generation radar built to detect a broader range of airborne and missile threats
Lockheed Martin has secured a potential $3 billion contract from the U.S. Army to manufacture the Sentinel A4 radar systems, the Department of War said Tuesday.
What Is the Scope of the Sentinel A4 Contract?
The fixed-price-incentive, cost-plus-fixed-fee and cost-no-fee contract covers the production of the Sentinel A4 radar and associated engineering services. Work locations and funding will be determined with each order placed under the contract, which is scheduled to run through June 29, 2031. The Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama, oversees the award, which followed an online solicitation process that received one bid.
What Is the Sentinel A4 Radar?
The Sentinel A4 is the Army’s next-generation air and missile defense radar, designed to replace the legacy Sentinel A3 system. It expands threat detection capabilities to include cruise missiles, uncrewed aircraft systems, rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft, electronic warfare threats and rockets, artillery and mortars, while also identifying their launch and impact points.
How Has the Sentinel A4 Program Progressed?
Lockheed’s work traces back to a $281.1 million Army contract in 2019 for 18 radars, awarded over two competing bids and performed in Liverpool, New York, using $6.5 million in fiscal 2019 research and development funds. The A4 was designed to replace the Raytheon-Thales-built A3 system.
Lockheed finished the first unit five months early, crediting its agile development and open-architecture approach. The Army then ordered five more radars in 2021 for operational testing. Lockheed delivered those five radars in June 2022, ahead of Army testing on mobility, logistics and radar performance. By then, Lockheed was already building the next batch of five radars, targeted for delivery by March 2023.
