The U.S. Army has signed a $3 billion contract with Lockheed Martin to expand production of the AN/MPQ-64F1 Sentinel A4 radar and provide engineering support through June 2031.
The agreement, signed on June 30, 2026, will keep production of the system at the company’s facility in Liverpool, New York, under the administration of the Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Alabama.
Considered the most important ground-based air surveillance radar used by U.S. Army air defense units, the Sentinel A4 is capable of monitoring airspace in 360 degrees and identifying a wide range of threats, including drones, helicopters, aircraft, rockets, mortars, and cruise missiles. The system uses X-band technology and can be transported by a single vehicle, becoming operational in approximately 15 minutes.
The new A4 variant represents the most significant upgrade ever applied to the system by replacing the previous mechanical antenna with an AESA antenna that electronically steers the radar beams. This technology increases detection speed, improves the simultaneous tracking of multiple targets, and significantly enhances the ability to identify small drones, one of the armed forces’ main concerns as modern aerial threats continue to evolve.
In addition to operating seamlessly with defense systems such as Patriot and Avenger, the Sentinel A4 plays a strategic role by providing early warning information about threats before they reach protected areas. The multibillion-dollar investment reinforces the U.S. Army’s priority of modernizing its air defense to counter FPV drone attacks, loitering munitions, and swarms of unmanned aircraft—challenges that did not exist when the Sentinel entered service in the 1990s.
US Army awarded Lockheed Martin a $3 Billion IDIQ contract on June 30 for Sentinel A4 radar production and engineering support extending the contract performance through 2031. The AN/MPQ-64 Sentinel A4 is a Gallium Nitride powered X-Band AESA radar that significantly increases… pic.twitter.com/AE0AgtKSMi
— Air-Power | NatSec Ledger (@NatSecLedger) July 2, 2026
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Source: Defence Blog | Photos: X @LockheedMartin | Photo: DVIDS | This content was created with the assistance of AI and reviewed by the editorial team
