🔷 Giant Voltron Radar

Giant Voltron Radar

The Air Force officially accepted Lockheed Martin’s first TPY-4 next-gen long-range air surveillance radar, and it’s a big deal.

What

The TPY-4 radar replaces the Air Force’s ancient 1960s TPS-75 radar, a key piece in the service’s expeditionary ground-based air control and coordination capability.

Think of it as a ground-based AWACS that is C-130 transportable.

The TPY-4 radar was developed from the Air Force’s Three-Dimensional Expeditionary Long-Range Radar (3DELRR, pronounced “Three Dealer”) prototype program.

Fun fact: The rapid demo part of the program was called Speed Dealer.

The TPY-4 was selected in 2022, and our sources say the pre-production prototype was built in just 22 months by leveraging elements from the based on the Sentinel A4 radar program.

So What

The whole point of the TPY-4 radar is to see everything further away—from quadcopter drones to stealth cruise missiles.

To do that, the TPY-4 is a giant deployable, GPU-powered, L-band, Gallium Nitride (GaN) based, network-enabled, fully digital AESA radar. That’s a mouthful, so let’s break that down:

• Giant: The radar antenna array is over 26 feet tall

• Deployable: It's designed to be C-130 transportable

• GPU-powered: don’t let the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) name fool you—these are designed for parallel processing, which is very useful in high-performance computing applications

• L-band: This frequency range (1-2 GHz) has some key RF phenomenologies, namely the ability to detect stealthy things at long ranges

• GaN: This is a chip material that makes AESA radars much more efficient and capable (more to follow from our offline archives)

• Network-Enabled: Software updates can be pushed over-the-air to all radars around the world simultaneously, just like Tesla does. It’s good for deployed U.S. radars and a game-changer for coalition interoperability

• Multi-mode: The radar can spin, adjust its scan rate, and even stop and stare based on what it’s tasked to do.

So What

The final part is the “fully-digital AESA radar,” but that’s not exactly true.

The TPY-4 isn’t a radar—it's a software-defined array built from 1,000 radiating element tiles (aka pucks). These can each perform digital transmit and receive tasks, making it the first radar in the world with individually-controllable radar pucks.

BL: It’s a Voltron-like radar comprised of 1,000 mini-radars, made possible by using 5 commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) GPUs.

This unlocks some very interesting possibilities, especially when combined with all the back-end tech we already told you about.

Without speculating too much, we’ll give you one potential capability: Simultaneous multi-freq/multi-PRF operations.

Beyond the jam resistance this capability would have, the on-board processing power could be used to stitch together tracks using data from several pucks operating in multiple frequencies and PRFs—the makings of a perfect counter-stealth radar.

Eye on 2025

Selected in 2022, delivered in 2025, and plans to be fully operational in 2026. That’s quick.

It will be interesting to see how this system integrates with the Air Force in the coming year.

As for how many—it’s too soon to tell. The Air Force has contracts for 9 radars, with plans for 35 systems. Norway is on board too, with commitments to buy 11 of them.

In That Number

$1 trillion

The Pentagon’s forthcoming FY26 budget request will be nearly $1 trillion.

TRIVIA

On this day in 1970, Apollo 13 astronaut April 14, 1970 radioed the often misquoted phrase, "Houston, we’ve had a problem here." What was the problem?

A) The guidance computer failed
B) An oxygen tank exploded
C) The main engine shut down
D) An electrical issue

On the Radar

The Pentagon ordered to fix itself: A new executive order aims to fast-track defense acquisitions by cutting red tape, pushing innovation, and slashing delays. It mandates a full review of all Major Defense Acquisition Programs (MDAPs), calls for a new Defense Industrial Base Council, and expands the use of modular open systems and rapid acquisition tools.

• The Merge’s Take: This order reads like a greatest hits compilation of long-standing acquisition reform talking points—but with very sharp teeth. One of the several points to call out are MDAPs—the Pentagon’s largest multi-billion-dollar programs, like jets and ships. All of the ~75 MDAPs are under review, and those over 15% late, 15% over budget, or underperforming could be cut—based on prior reviews, this could be up to half of them. Non-MDAPs are next. The Pentagon has 180 days to deliver a measurable plan. Expect accountability—and casualties.

More EA-37B Compass Calls? The Air Force is buying 10 G550 bizjet-based jamming jets, but it’s not likely enough. L3Harris and BAE have indicated there is analysis and demand for as many as 20 jets.

• The Merge’s Take: 10 isn’t enough—the original requirement of 12 EA-37s to replace a peak fleet of 15 EC-130Hs was trimmed to 10 due to budget choices. But 20? That likely includes some mission expansion possibilities, like battle management of Collaborative Combat Aircraft—an interesting way to augment the forthcoming E-7 fleet.

The Navy’s MQ-25 unmanned tanker drone is still expected to fly this year, but only if a “ton of work” is completed, according to the Navy. The program is currently integrating the drone with the Navy’s aircraft carrier systems but facing software and integration challenges. Boeing is the prime contractor, and while the drone has already flown from land, its upcoming milestone is conducting carrier-based flight operations—a critical step toward the eventual deployment of these $136M tanker drones.

• The Merge’s Take: This is the Navy’s CCA pathfinder program, so some of the teething is expected. That said, the Northrop Grumman X-47B demonstrator that led to the MQ-25 was doing carrier ops and autonomous refueling 12 years ago. Right now, the MQ-25 program is behind schedule and over budget—Boeing booked a $340M loss on the fixed-price program last year. The stakes are high for both Boeing and the Navy—expect pressure to mount as the year continues for the 76-jet $16.5B program. See the executive order above.

They Said It

“We focused on a high-end laser – 500kW to one megawatt – and I have regret for that."

— Adm. James Kilby, acting Chief of Naval Operations (CNO), on not having better ways to more economically attrit the threat of low-cost attack drones

Knowledge Bombs

• Allen Control Systems completed an Army CUAS demo of its autonomous robotic weapon and shot down a 7-drone swarm

• The UK’s Royal Navy is trialing drones to deliver supplies between ships

• Thales and Saildrone unveiled a surface-based undersea threat detection drone

• EMSI was awarded an NGA contract for commercial analysis of satellite imagery (feature identification software)

• Anduril and Ultra Maritime unveiled a submarine-hunting drone sonar trap

• BAE unveiled a dual-mode laser/IR seeker for APKWS rockets

• You can now buy a used KC-10 tanker

💎 Free Merch! 💎 

Don't keep us a secret!
Share the Merge = earn free swag.
It's that simple.

You currently have 0 referrals, only 3 away from receiving Stickers.

Or copy and paste this link: https://themerge.co/subscribe?ref=PLACEHOLDER

ANSWER
B…and D, depending on how you interpret it. The problem was that an oxygen tank exploded, but they didn’t know it yet. The radio call was in response to an electrical warning light. The full quote of the second (repeated) radio call: “Ah, Houston, we’ve had a problem here. We’ve had a Main B Bus Undervolt.”