Northrop Grumman Receives UK Radar Network Builder Contract

Illustration of the DARC radar network (photo: dock. Northrop Grumman)

JAKARTA Northrop Grumman received the contract to build Deep Space Advanced Radar CAPability (DARC) on August 23. The 200 million US dollar contract (Rp3 trillion) was awarded by the Space Force. Quoted from Spacenews, this contract is part of the cooperation of the AUKUS security alliance consisting of Australia, Britain and the US. Through this contract, Northrop will set up a radar monitoring of the second space object in the UK. DARC is a global network consisting of three radar systems to observe objects in geostationary orbits (GEOs). Radar in this network will detect, track, identify, and characterize objects without the help of sunlight in all weather. Currently, the first DARC is being developed in Western Australia and is expected to start operating in 2026. This radar network was also developed by Northrop Grumman after receiving the contract in 2022.

Construction in the first location is much more expensive because the contracts given are worth 341 million US dollars (Rp5,271 trillion). The third DARC contract may be awarded to Northrop again, but it is not certain what year this contract will be awarded. Earlier this year, Northrop said that the technology used in the DARC development is very sophisticated because it can operate every day. This radar network is also important for future space security. Northrop Grumman's highly advanced DARC technology will operate 24/7, under all weather conditions, filling the critical gaps in ground-based elements of space-domain awareness architecture companies," Northrop said.