Ultra Electronics Ocean Systems was selected to development and production of the U.S. Navy’s new navigation radar in a contract worth up to $27,9 million.

U.S. defense contractor is being awarded a $27,9 million contract for the development and production of Next Generation Surface Search Radar qualification systems (NGSSR), according to the U.S. Department of Defense.

The Next Generation Surface Search Radar (NGSSR) is currently in development to replace the AN/SPS-67, AN/SPS-73, BridgeMaster E series, and commercial-of-the-shelf radar systems.

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NGSSR will therefore be “software-defined” radar, similar to what has been so successfully done with software-defined radio.

This software-defined radar feature is primarily intended to meet the sustainability requirements for the radar by drastically reducing radar-specific hardware. However, the software-defined architecture also offers the opportunity to implement functionality never before considered for such relatively simple rotating radar. Software modules should be easily capable of extending the radar’s capability such that it can assume expanded mission requirements. Furthermore, the potential exists to enhance the basic navigation function of the radar, making it resilient in the face of complex contact scenarios, robust to varying weather conditions, and immune to interference and deception, while simultaneously reducing operator workload and fatigue. An agile approach in which the radar automatically adjusts to changing conditions is necessary.

This contract includes options which, if exercised, would bring the cumulative value of this contract to $34,563,961.

The primary objective of NGSSR is to find a replacement for legacy systems due to current military threats and obsolescence issues. The contract aims to outline the requirements and approach for NGSSR development, production, integration, test, demonstration, product support, and systems engineering.