US Air Force orders ASARS-2B radar sensors for U-2 Dragon Lady
U-2 Dragon Lady flies over the Golden Gate Bridge near San Francisco. (Photo: USAF/Staff Sgt Robert M. Trujillo)
Sole-source supplier Raytheon is providing advanced radar equipment for the U-2 reconnaissance aircraft.
Raytheon Intelligence & Space, El Segundo, California, has been awarded a $183.97 million deal from the US Air Force Life Cycle Management Center for Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar System (ASARS)-2B sensors and supplemental equipment.
ASARS is the radar system carried by the U-2 Dragon Lady reconnaissance aircraft.
Work will be performed in El Segundo, California, and is expected to be completed by 16 August 2027, the DoD announced on 9 September, adding that Raytheon was the sole bidder.
Raytheon is already carrying out support and sustainment work for the older ASARS-2A system on U-2 aircraft until 2024.
ASARS-2A is designed to provide high-resolution radar imagery and long-range ISR capabilities for the U-2 from 70,000ft altitude.
ASARS-2B completed its first flight test at Edwards Air Force Base in California in early 2019. It features an AESA antenna to double the surveillance range while maintaining the mapping and imagery resolution of the ASARS-2A system.
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