New contract integral to sustaining worldwide missile warning and defense

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Roz Chromy and 2nd Lt. Bradley Landry
  • Sustainment and Modification of Radar Sensors Team

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. – The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s Strategic Warning and Surveillance Systems Division recently released a request for proposal for the Sustainment and Modification of Radar Sensors, or SMORS, contract.

This contract will replace the System Engineering and Sustainment Integrator, or SENSOR, contract. It will provide depot-level sustainment services and modification projects for the missile warning/missile defense and space situational awareness Ballistic Missile Early Warning Systems (BMEWS), PAVE Phased Array Warning Systems (PAVE PAWS) and Perimeter Acquisition Radar Characterization System (PARCS) ground-based radar sensor systems and associated support systems under Air Force Space Command and Missile Defense Agency responsibility. In October 2016, MDA initiated the demolition of the original BMEWS radar at Clear Air Force Station, Alaska.

“The focus of the SMORS contract is to provide effective sustainment and maintain required system availability for these mission-critical radars,” said Col. Todd Wiest, Strategic Warning and Surveillance Systems Division senior materiel leader. “Effective and assured operation of this worldwide network of ground-based radars is essential to the Air Force’s missile warning and missile defense mission.”

The BMEWS, PAVE PAWS and PARCS radars are the assets which provide that mission-critical missile warning and missile defense mission. The BMEWS radars are located at Thule Air Base, Greenland; Clear Air Force Station, Alaska; and Royal Air Force Fylingdales, United Kingdom. The active PAVE PAWS radars are located at Beale Air Force Base, Calif.; and Cape Cod Air Force Station, Mass. The PAVE PAWS radar at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is in caretaker status. Work will also be for the PARCS radar located at Cavalier Air Force Station, N.D.

The BMEWS/PAVE PAWS radar sensors in the Early Warning Radar configuration (Clear AFS and Cape Cod AFS) and the PARCS radar sensor contribute missile warning data to the ground-based radars portion of the Integrated Tactical Warning/ Attack Assessment system. These radar sensors also perform a space surveillance mission and are therefore considered "collateral" Space Surveillance Network sensors. The BMEWS/PAVE PAWS radar sensors in the upgraded EWR configuration (Beale AFB, RAF Fylingdales and Thule AB) also support the missile defense network.

The contract will be a single award, indefinite delivery indefinite quantity contract. In addition to on-going depot-level sustainment, it will provide high-altitude electromagnetic pulse hardness maintenance and hardness surveillance, modifications for the BMEWS/PAVE PAWS and PARCS radars and operations maintenance and support services for the non-mission system development and test environment systems associated with the operational radars. The contract ceiling is $866 million and is expected to award in December of 2017.

“We are very pleased to release this request for proposal for the SMORS effort and excited to work with industry in the years ahead,” said Wiest.