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By Hunter Keeter
Lockheed Martin (LMT) sees an expanding world market for its updated TPS-117 radar to include a potential bid for the U.S. Air Force within five years, according to a company official.
TPS-117 is the transportable version of Lockheed Martins FPS-117 radar now used in the United States and elsewhere at fixed sites. The TPS-117 system is designed for transport by two Lockheed Martin C- 130 aircraft or Boeing (BA) CH-47D helicopters.
"We are actually in production on 10 of the transportable systems today," Richard Schubert, Lockheed Martin's vice president for radar systems, on Tuesday told reporters at the Air Force Association's symposium in Washington, D.C. "We are also trying to work with the U.S. Air Force to get it into the U.S. inventory."
Within the next five years, it is expected that the Air Force will put out a solicitation for a replacement to its Northrop Grumman (NOC) TPS-75 radars now in service, Schubert said. Lockheed Martin hopes to bid TPS-117 for that follow-on contract.
Six of the 10 TPS-117 units now in production are for delivery to Raytheon (RTNA/RTNB), the prime contractor for a new radar network to Brazil. The System for the Vigilance of the Amazon (SIVAM) program was awarded...