Renewed Battle Over USAF 3DELR Radar Between Raytheon, Lockheed And Northrop

US Air Force Corrective Action Plan for the Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar competition has renewed high-stakes battle between Raytheon, Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, Syracuse.com reported Wednesday.

The 3DLRR contract is expected to pay huge dividends for Lockheed Martin-Northrop in the Syracuse area.

The initial contract worth up to $ 73 million has a potential long term production deal of $1.3 billion in total sales (including exports to foreign militaries) for a period of 10 years.

The USAF had selected Raytheon Co.and subcontractor Saab to produce its next generation of long-range radars October last year.

This week’s technical and pricing analysis re-evaluation of the contract by USAF has pushed the deal to uncertainty. Raytheon has filed a lawsuit to block the decision. Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin have contested the lawsuit as opposing parties.

An Air Force spokesman confirmed the service had planned to re-evaluate the technical and pricing analysis of the contract, but he said officials cannot comment because of the Raytheon lawsuit.

"Once a decision by the Court of Federal Claims is published we will be able to discuss future actions," Syracuse on their website quoted an Air Force spokesman as confirming the planned re-evaluation.

"On Jan. 26, 2015, Raytheon filed an action in the Court of Federal Claims seeking to preserve the Air Force's contract award," the statement said. "We believe the Air Force awarded the procurement to Raytheon in a properly conducted bid process and we remain confident in our 3DELRR solution."

A Lockheed spokesman said the company "fully supports the Air Force in their corrective action plan. We believe we offered the most superior and qualified solution for the Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar competition, and will wait for a final decision to be made."