The Air Force said on Aug. 21 it plans to award its highly-anticipated, multi-billion dollar new Space Fence contract in the spring of 2014, about a year after its original goal.
Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) spokesman Senior Master Sgt. Dean Miller said in an email not only will the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) production and deployment contract be awarded early next year, but the air service anticipates the new Space Fence’s initial operational capability (IOC) in the fall of 2018. Miller said the potential Space Fence award is contingent on a positive direction to proceed from a December program review. The Air Force originally planned Space Fence IOC in FY ’17 and full operational capability (FOC) in FY ’20.
Space Fence is the Air Force’s next-generation space surveillance radar. Raytheon [RTN] and Lockheed Martin [LMT] are the two prime contractors gunning for the $3.5 billion contract. The original contract award was delayed as the Defense Department was determining whether it could afford it in an era of tightening budgets. AFSPC chief Gen. William Shelton told a Capitol Hill audience in July he hoped the Air Force would get authority to award the contract “very shortly.”
Raytheon spokesman Mike Nachshen declined comment. Lockheed Martin spokeswoman Rashi Ratan said in a statement the company is committed to meeting the Air Force’s requirements for this important national security program.
The Air Force said it was preparing to discontinue operations of its legacy Space Fence, known as the Air Force Space Surveillance System (AFSSS), which could save the service approximately $14 million per year starting in FY ’14, or by Oct. 1. By discontinuing operations, the AFSSS would not be maintained in operational status, but the service also said it would not remove equipment until a final disposition determination is made.
The Air Force devised modified operating modes for the Perimeter Acquisition Radar Characterization System at Cavalier Air Force Station, N.D., and for the space surveillance radar at Eglin AFB, Fla., to bridge the gap between when AFSSS shuts down and new Space Fence comes online. AFSSS is also known as VHF Fence.
The AFSSS, which has been in operation since 1961, is just one part of the Air Force’s global space surveillance network. The system is designed to transmit a “fence” of radar energy vertically into space to detect all objects intersecting that fence. The operational advantage of AFSSS is its ability to detect objects in an un-cued fashion. The disadvantage is the inherent inaccuracy of the data, based on its dated design.