The US Army has taken delivery of the first of 19 Sentinel A4 radars, part of low-rate initial production (LRIP) 2, from Lockheed Martin.
The army approved the LRIP in August 2023, under which the Sentinel A4 will replace the currently fielded Sentinel A3 radar and integrate into the service’s Integrated Air and Missile Defense Battle Command System and Indirect Fire Protection Capability.
Moreover, the handover follows completion of the first phase of Initial Operational Test and Evaluation, during which the radar was integrated with the Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control (FAAD-C2), moving the program closer to full-rate production.
“This delivery is a major milestone in getting next-generation radar capability to the warfighter to address the threats of today and tomorrow,” said Rick Cordaro, VP of Lockheed Martin’s Radar and Sensor Systems.
While neither the service nor Lockheed disclosed which units would first receive the radar, previous reporting by The War Zone cited an army officer stating that the first full deployment of Sentinel A4 will take place in the National Capital Region around Washington, DC.
Sentinel A4
While several of its specific capabilities remain classified, the Sentinel A4 is known to feed precise tracking data into the Integrated Battle Command System (IBCS) and FAAD-C2 so commanders can quickly decide how and where to engage.
It features an open architecture design and a 360-degree, GaN-based active electronically scanned array sensor to counter a range of threats, including missiles, drones, helicopters, planes, rockets, artillery, and mortars.
The Sentinel A4 can operate from fixed sites or move with maneuver forces and is designed to remain effective in harsh terrain and electronically contested environments.
It is also built to interface beyond army networks with systems such as NASAMS, the Aegis combat management system, and NORAD.
