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Northrop Grumman to manage AWACS radar supply chain

15th December 2020 - 16:00 GMT | by The Shephard News Team

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Sole-source contract includes repairs, sustaining spares and engineering services until September 2028.

Supply chain management of APY-1/2 surveillance radar systems installed on E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control Systems (AWACS) aircraft will be performed by OEM Northrop Grumman, under a $163.65 million DoD contract issued by the Air Force Sustainment Center.

The sole-source contract includes repairs, sustaining spares and engineering services for APY-1/2 systems.

Northrop Grumman will complete the contract by 9 September 2028.

The S-band AN/APY-1 radar is installed in a large rotodome above the fuselage of Sentry AWACS aircraft in NATO (E-3A), Saudi Arabian (KE-3A) and USAF (E-3B) service, notes Shephard Defence Insight.

The S-band AN/APY-2 radar equips Boeing E-3C/D/F AWACS aircraft in French (E-3F), UK (E-3D) and USAF (E-3C) service.

The AN/SPY-2 radar is also used on board the E-767 AWACS aircraft flown by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force.

Both radar types have a 360° FOV and a detection range of about 400km, covering more than 500,000km2 of airspace around the AWACS.

All AN/SPY-1/2 radars in service are being brought to an equivalent standard via the USAF/NATO Radar Sustainability Improvement Program, which improves the radar's resistance to ECM.

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