The US Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is seeking a new mobile radar system to succeed the AN/TPY-2, which has been used in the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) ballistic missile defense system. The MDA wants a more mobile radar system to make them less susceptible to enemy missile and drone attacks.
The agency has put out a call for innovative prototype concepts for what it is currently calling the Forward-Based Mode (FBM) Radar Next. The contracting notice stresses that the agency is currently in the pre-solicitation phase of this effort, but that it does have plans to eventually pursue these prototypes through an Other Transaction Authority (OTA) agreement.
The new radar must be capable of high-sensitivity detection, persistent tracking, and precise discrimination of advanced threats in high-clutter and contested electromagnetic environments. It must also be able to slot into more versatile deployment architectures, with the capability to operate either as a highly integrated single aperture or as multiple distributed arrays to optimize geographical coverage, sensitivity, survivability, or electronic protection.
