Raytheon’s [RTN] demonstration unit for the Air Force’s Deployable Radar Approach Control (D-RAPCON) program was likely crucial to securing the service’s $50.6 million contract, according to a company executive.
Raytheon Director of Business Development for Air Traffic Systems Bob Meyer said Wednesday the company about two years ago started investing into a demonstration unit for D-RAPCON, a rapidly-deployable air traffic control (ATC) system that can be delivered anywhere in the world before becoming fully operational and controlling flights in six hours. Meyer said Raytheon also spent about 18 months cycling the unit through its stakeholder community to get feedback from maintainers, transporters and mobile guys, among others.
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| The Air Force’s D-RAPCON rapidly deployable air traffic control system. Photo: Air Force. |
Raytheon edged out Lockheed Martin [LMT] for the contract. Meyer said D-RAPCON is slated to replace two legacy Air Force ATC systems: the AN/TPN-19, created by Raytheon, and the MPN-14K, which is developed by ITT Exelis [XLS].
“At the end of the day, I believe that our demonstration unit provided us with a lot of credibility in our offer, in that the customer community saw what we were capable of building,” Meyer said.
D-RAPCON provides sequencing, separation of aircraft, navigation assistance and airspace control services, all with the latest digital sensors, communications equipment and advanced surveillance data processing systems, according to Raytheon. D-RAPCON consists of a transportable antenna plus three trailer-sized shelters that house radar equipment, communications systems and an operations center with multiple controller work stations that have the same look and feel of what a controller would see at a major airport.
Raytheon was awarded $50.6 million for the engineering and manufacturing development (EMD) phase of the contract, during which the company will build one pre-production unit (PPU) for the Air Force, Meyer said. Raytheon has a preliminary design review (PDR) scheduled for September, Meyer said, and a critical design review (CDR) planned for December. Raytheon spokeswoman Caroline Harris said yesterday the company will complete assembly of the PPU in July 2014.
The contract has options for 19 total units, including the PPU if it passes all its tests, Meyer said. The contract has a potential value of $672.5 million if all options are exercised (Defense Daily, July 31). Meyer said Raytheon’s goal for full operational capability (FOC) is 2020.
Raytheon teamed with Harris Corp. [HRS] for the D-RAPCON bid. Meyer said Harris is providing the entire communications subsystem, including the voice switch and the air-to-ground and ground-to-ground radios that are necessary to perform ATC operations.
This is not Raytheon’s first venture in portable ATC management, Meyer said. Raytheon in January was awarded a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) contract for Mobile Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR), which Meyer described like a “half D-RAPCON.”
“It’s the actual radar portion of it, put into a mobile package,” Meyer said. “But the FAA did not need the communications subsystem, nor the operations center.”
Meyer said D-RAPCON emphasizes the importance of service continuity in the global ATC communities, both military and civilian. Service continuity, which Meyer said includes restoration of services due to major storms or natural disasters, is critical to getting important relief aid to impacted areas. Meyer noted “high interest” from potential customers in mobile ATC systems to help maintain service continuity.
“One of our customers said (they) would look to procure one of these (mobile ATC units),” Meyer said. “(They said) as we continue modernization of our radar networks, we can move in deployable systems and we can continue service while we actually construct the new radar facility.”
Raytheon has been in the ATC business for 60 years, Meyer said, and is providing an AN/TPM-31 radar known as the Air Traffic Navigation Integration and Coordination System (ATNAVICS) to the Army and Marine Corps. Meyer said ATNAVICS is a radar approach control center that is C-130 transportable and operational in 60 minutes. ATNAVICS is mounted on two Humvees with one Humvee containing three radars and the other containing the sensors.
Meyer said Raytheon is also investing in implementing actively scanned array radar technology into its future ATC radar products so it can eventually phase out its legacy turning radars, which can be costly to maintain because of continuous motion. Though Raytheon continues to produce and deliver turning radars, Meyer said non-turning, or stationary, radars are the cutting edge.
“If you can get rid of that turning and turn it into a non-turning radar, you’re getting rid of that big maintenance issue,” Meyer said.