ORLANDO - Lockheed Martin Missiles and Fire Control has received a $244.96 million U.S. Navy contract modification to procure Full Rate Production 2 systems for the F/A-18E/F Infrared Search and Track (IRST) Block II program.
The firm-fixed-price modification, designated P00004 under previously awarded contract N0001925C0009, includes 48 infrared receivers, 45 for the Navy and three for the Royal Australian Air Force; 74 processors; and 27 inertial measurement units for the Navy. The effort also includes test equipment maintenance and lay-in material.
The IRST Block II system centers on Lockheed Martin's IRST21 long-wave infrared sensor, which passively detects and tracks airborne targets at extended ranges. The Navy describes the system as a passive, out-of-band fire-control capability intended to search for, detect, track, and engage airborne targets at long range. Unlike a radar, the infrared sensor does not need to transmit a signal to perform its basic search and tracking function.
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For the F/A-18E/F, the IRST21 sensor is integrated into the nose section of a modified centerline fuel tank. The configuration reduces the tank's fuel capacity to 340 gallons from the 480 gallons of the centerline tank it replaces, according to the Defense Department's director of operational test and evaluation.
Block II incorporates upgraded optics, advanced processing, and software algorithms intended to improve target-detection and tracking performance. Lockheed Martin says the upgraded system provides tracking and targeting data to support beyond-visual-range missile engagements. The Navy identifies IRST Block II as the Super Hornet's primary out-of-band fire-control system and says it is intended to support passive air-to-air kill chains in heavy electronic-attack or radar-denied environments.
The sensor is designed to complement the Super Hornet's active electronically scanned array radar. The DoD's operational testing office describes IRST Block II as a complementary sensor to the AN/APG-79 fire-control radar and says it can operate autonomously or in combination with other sensors. The system is intended to provide target tracks in contested and congested electromagnetic-spectrum environments.
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The division of hardware included in the latest production order reflects the major elements of the sensing and processing chain. Infrared receivers collect the sensor data, while processors handle that information for the system's tracking functions. The contract also calls for inertial measurement units, which support the sensor's ability to establish and maintain measurements as the aircraft maneuvers.
The Navy declared IRST Block II initially operational on the F/A-18E/F in February 2025, and NAVAIR subsequently identified the program as having achieved both initial operational capability and full-rate production.
Work on the new contract will be performed in Orlando (79.42%); Santa Barbara, Calif. (11.70%); Ocala, Fla. (5.70%); and Archbald, Pa. (3.18%), and is expected to be completed in February 2031.
The contract was not competitively procured. Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Md., is the contracting activity.
