By Ann Roosevelt
Raytheon‘s [RTN] Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor System (JLENS) successfully conducted a critical design review (CDR), a key milestone for the Army’s cruise missile defense capability.
The successful CDR represents a key milestone event for the $1.4 billion system design and demonstration contract, under which two JLENS orbits are being delivered. Successful completion of this milestone allows transition into the fabrication, assembly, integration and test phase of the JLENS program.
“JLENS is moving forward to provide the soldier with key performance capabilities,” Lt. Col. Stephen Willhelm, JLENS product manager, Army Program Executive Office for Missiles and Space, said. “The JLENS CDR demonstrates that the design maturity is where we need it to be and reaffirms our continued confidence that this critical cruise missile defense capability is on track to be provided to our warfighters.”
Pete Franklin, vice president, National & Theater Security Programs for Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems, said in a statement: “The JLENS team continues rapid and disciplined progress on schedule.”
The CDR review assessed all aspects of the JLENS design maturity and confidence. A successful preliminary design review was held last year (Defense Daily, April 1).
JLENS provides long-duration, wide-area, over-the-horizon detection and tracking of incoming cruise missiles. At the same time, it supplies the battlefield commander with situational awareness and elevated communications capabilities to provide sufficient warning to enable air defense systems to engage and defeat threats.
Each JLENS Orbit consists of two systems: a surveillance system, which includes an elevated long-range surveillance radar; and a fire control system, which includes an elevated high-performance fire control radar. Each radar is integrated onto a large aerostat, which is connected by a tether to the ground-based mobile mooring station and communications- processing group.
In December 2006, the Army awarded the five-year $1.4 billion contract modification to Raytheon defining the SDD phase of work (Defense Daily, Dec. 18, 2006).
The Defense Department approved the JLENS SDD move in August 2005. At that time, DoD submitted a JLENS baseline acquisition cost estimate of $7.1 billion. The baseline was submitted in DoD’s Selected Acquisition Report (SAR) submission to Congress for the September 2005 reporting period.
The current schedule is about two years later than service plans back in 2001.