Hunt For New Mobile Missile Defense Radar Reinforced By Lessons From Iran War

Key Points:

• The U.S. Missile Defense Agency (MDA) is seeking innovative prototype concepts for a new, more mobile radar system called the Forward-Based Mode (FBM) Radar Next to replace the AN/TPY-2 radar, aiming to enhance survivability against missile and drone attacks.
• The new radar must be rapidly deployable via military airlift and ground vehicles, capable of quick setup and teardown, and able to operate in contested electromagnetic environments with high sensitivity and precision.
• MDA emphasizes modular design, open architecture, remote operations, and integration with existing Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC) networks to ensure flexibility, scalability, and cost-effective production.
• The development is driven by recent threats, including Iran’s successful attacks on static missile defense radars and the growing use of weaponized drones, highlighting vulnerabilities in current systems and the need for more agile, distributed defense architectures.
• Military officials underscore the increasing complexity of the threat environment, including the democratization of space-enabled targeting and navigation, necessitating layered, redundant terrestrial and space-based sensing capabilities for future missile defense.