NORTHROP GRUMMAN has challenged the selection of Raytheon Electronic Systems to develop and produce the next-generation airport surveillance radar for the US Federal Aviation Administration and the US military.
On 9 August, the US Air Force, which is managing the radar procurement, awarded Raytheon a $620 million contract to develop and produce up to Digital Airport Surveillance Radars. The programme involves the replacement of surveillance radars installed at civil and military airfields.
Northrop Grumman filed an official contract award protest with the US General Accounting Office on 19 August, which could freeze work on the contract while it is investigated. The grounds for the protest are unclear at this stage.
Raytheon's on was a bitter pill for Northrop Grumman's Electronics and Sensors division to swallow as the incumbent US Government supplier. Dr James Roche, head of the division, says: "The competition was extremely close, and it is very hard to tell why we lost."
Source: Flight International
