Construction moves forward on gallium nitride (GaN) radar system in Alaska

Construction is moving forward on a U.S. military project to build a new ballistic missile defense system in Central Alaska that involves a gallium nitride (GaN)-based solid-state active electronically scanned array (AESA) early warning radar. Officials of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Anchorage, Alaska, announced a $128.7 million contract to ASRC Construction Holding Co. LLC in Anchorage, Alaska, to build the Long Range Discrimination Radar (LRDR). The LRDR, planned for service in 2020 is part of the U.S. ground-based midcourse defense anti-ballistic missile system. The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) in Huntsville, Ala., awarded the Lockheed Martin Corp. Rotary and Mission Systems segment in Moorestown, N.J., a $784.3 million contract in late 2015 to build the LRDR. The LRDR program is the backbone of the MDA’s layered defense to protect the U.S. homeland from ballistic missile attack. It will be a long-range radar that will provide precision metric data to improve ballistic defense discrimination and replace existing sensors in the Ballistic Missile Defense System (BMDS). LRDR will keep pace with evolving ballistic missile threats and increase the effectiveness of ground based interceptors, Lockheed Martin officials say. For more information contact ASRC Construction online at http://asrcconstruction.com; Lockheed Martin Rotary and Mission Systems at www.lockheedmartin.com, or the Army Corps of Engineers Alaska District at www.poa.usace.army.mil.