Washington
–
Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems of Tewksbury, Mass., has been awarded a contract worth as much as $400 million from the U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) for the radar site that will be part of the proposed European missile shield, according to an April 15 Defense Department press release.
The United States has proposed placing a missile shield in Europe consisting of 10 ground-based interceptors in Poland and a midcourse tracking radar in the Czech Republic. An agreement in principle with the Czech government is complete, but
has yet to be signed. MDA officials are hopeful an agreement with Poland will be reached soon.
The site’s construction is opposed by Russia, but it
recently was endorsed by NATO.
Raytheon’s contract is an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity arrangement, with the first task order valued at $5.3 million and intended for site surveys, studies and planning. Once the agreement with the Czech Republic is ratified, Raytheon can begin transferring a radar system currently located at the Reagan Test Center on the Kwajalein Atoll in the Pacific Ocean to the Czech Republic for installation.
All work on the contract is expected to be complete by February 2013. This contract was awarded to Raytheon without competition because Raytheon built the existing radar and “has the specific expertise and experience to complete the work within the planned schedule,” MDA spokesman Rick Lehner said in an e-mail response to questions.
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