Request for Information for Southeast Radar

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only, which as part of market research, is being issued in accordance with (IAW) Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) subpart 15.201(e). This is not a solicitation/Request for Proposal, a Request for Quotation, an Invitation for Bids, or a solicitation, and no contract will result from this synopsis. MDA/GMS will not pay respondents for information provided in response to this RFI. The Government is NOT seeking or accepting unsolicited proposals. This notice shall not be construed as a contract, a promise to contract, or a commitment of any kind by the Government. Specific responses will not disqualify or have an impact on participation and evaluation on future solicitations. Not responding to this RFI does not preclude participation in any future solicitation.

MDA is looking for responses to the below questions for complete system solutions or enabling technologies. Please respond to the best of your ability to as many questions as possible. Solutions should be actionable prior to July 31, 2026.

1. DESCRIPTION:

The Southeast Radar is a multi-mission radar designed for persistent coverage supporting Ballistic Missile (BM) and Hypersonic Glide Vehicles (HGV) engagements while also simultaneously conducting Space Domain Awareness. The Southeast Radar provides a minimum of 200 degrees of 24/7 persistent, multi-mission, southern-facing coverage through autonomous and cued acquisition, tracking, and discrimination of complex and advanced adversarial threats. The Southeast Radar is designed to conduct timely and accurate threat assessment in support of interceptor engagement planning and provides accurate hit assessment of missile defense engagement. The Southeast Radar is designed to operate in the Missile Defense System architecture through remote operations via Command and Control, Battle Management, and Communications (C2BMC) and operates through contested and degraded electronic warfare environments. In addition to Homeland Defense, the Southeast Radar also provides persistent and simultaneous Space Domain Awareness (SDA) of Resident Space Objects (RSOs) in support of multiple combatant commanders.

• System Overview:
  • Solid-state (single or multi-band), phased array radar designed for superior performance against advanced threats - providing expanded coverage and tracking/discrimination
• Calendar Year (CY) 2028 Core Capabilities – Unless otherwise indicated, the following capabilities are threshold requirements (i.e., minimally viable capabilities for a system to be considered operationally acceptable):
  • Full Field of View (FOV) - Minimum 200 degrees; (e.g., slewable or multiple radar faces)
  • Acquisition (autonomous and/or cued), tracking, and discrimination of ballistic missiles to support midcourse and under layer engagements
  • Detection and reporting of hypersonic threats
  • Accurate hit and kill assessment of both unitary and multiple kinetic kill vehicle interceptor engagements
  • Concurrent SDA and Missile Defense Operations (Objective)
    • SDA to be discontinued when the Missile Defense System is in alert
  • 24/7/365 operations with maintain-while-operate capability
  • Remote operations via C2BMC
  • Electronic Protection (EP) in contested environments
  • Latent cruise missile acquisition and tracking (Objective)
• Fielding - Meeting the required system delivery schedule is the highest priority. Initial operational capability architecture supports the ability to expand performance capabilities. Fielding times include the following:
  • Initial operational capability no later than CY2028
    • Incremental capability enhancements delivered ahead of final capability
  • Demonstrated actionable, expandable capability in 2028, with final operational capability no later than CY2031
  • Lead service is TBD

2. REQUESTED INFORMATION:

Respondents to this RFI are invited to prepare and submit the following:

• Scope, Area, Capability:
  1. Provide a high-level summary of the technical solution that meets the radar system core capabilities. Include in the response the frequency band(s) that the system will operate in and overall Technical Readiness Level (TRL) per the DoD Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL) Deskbook found at the following: https://www.dau.edu/sites/default/files/Migrated/CopDocuments/Guidance%20-%20Deskbook%20-%20Manufacturing%20Readiness%20Level%20%28MRL%29%20Deskbook%20V2020.pdf.
  2. Describe the ability for the technical solution to search, detect, track and discriminate advanced cruise, ballistic and hypersonic threats including complex countermeasures and mitigations from electronic attack (EA) while conducting Space Domain awareness.
  3. Describe your company’s experience in integrating a radar into complex architectures.
  4. Describe your company’s approach to use Model Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) for system development.
  5. Describe your company’s approach, including technical features, to perform radar operations in a congested emitter area while ensuring safety to aircraft. This description should include details on:
     1. Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) mitigation techniques.
     2. Mechanisms for ensuring no adverse impact on aircraft navigation and communication systems. 
• Manufacturing Capability: 
  1. Describe your company’s manufacturing capability and ability to produce the technical solution.
  2. Describe any expected expansion of capability/capacity with the plan for verification and validation.
• Schedule:
  1. Provide a high-level schedule detailing programmatic milestones and construction dependencies (e.g., need dates) to support initial operational capability by CY2028 with final operational capability by CY2031.
  2. Identify opportunities to reduce schedule and technical risks.
• Modeling & Simulation (M&S):
  1. Describe your company’s M&S approaches, including digital & Hardware in the loop (HWIL), to support radar system development and testing.
• Facility Construction and Environmental:
  1. Recommended emplacement siting location(s). Include technical rationale for the proposed site selection (including consideration of terrain features, proximity to other emitters, and performance assessment, etc.). If the site location is outside of the Southeast area of the United States, include technical rationale.
  2. Describe minimum MILCON requirements to meet CY2028 capabilities.
  3. Describe your approach performing site integration while Military Construction (MILCON) activities are occurring.
  4. Describe any unique MILCON requirements or considerations (e.g., foundation requirements, environmentally sealed construction area, estimated lay-down size, estimated radar facility size, etc.) related to radar emplacement. Include in the response required power and assumed dependencies for MILCON-provided equipment (e.g., MILCON provided cooling vs. contractor provided cooling, etc.) requirements for facilities designed to meet Risk Category IV or V standards, as defined in UFC 3-301-01 and UFC 3-301-02. Describe relevant accessibility, space, power, grounding, cooling and environmental considerations required for the radar.
• Cost/Price and Contracting:
  1. Identify key drivers that could reduce cost and schedule (e.g., early Long Lead procurement).

3. INFORMATION NEEDED:

Provide any specific information needed in a follow-on Request for Proposal (RFP) in order to accurately and sufficiently propose this radar system.

4. SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS:

Submission of unclassified information is not to exceed 15 total pages (not including cover page and table of contents). Additionally, submission of Classified Secret information is not to exceed 5 total pages (including cover page and table of contents).

Responses shall be submitted in Microsoft (MS) Word compatible format or electronic Portable Document Format (.pdf) only with searchable capability (no scanned documents), capable of being printed on 8.5x11 inch paper with one inch margin (top, bottom, left, and right), single-line spaced, Times New Roman font, and no smaller than 12-point font. Any drawings shall be capable of being printed on 11x17 inch paper and no smaller than 10-point font. All figures and drawings are included in the page limits. All responses shall contain a cover page identifying:

• RFI Title
• Company or organization name, mailing address (City/State/Zip), and Unique Entity Identifier
• Company web page URL, if applicable
• Point of Contact (name, title, phone number, and e-mail address)

Telephone inquiries will not be accepted or acknowledged, and no feedback or evaluations will be provided to companies regarding submissions.

Responses to this RFI are requested by close of business on August 20, 2025. All responses shall be reviewed to ensure consideration of operational sensitivities. To the maximum extent possible, please submit nonproprietary information. Any proprietary information submitted should be identified as such and will be handled accordingly and protected from disclosure. Proprietary information will be safeguarded in accordance with the applicable Government regulations. The Government shall not be liable for damages related to proprietary information that is not properly identified. Any submissions in response to this RFI constitutes consent for that submission to be reviewed by Government personnel, Federally Funded Research and Development Center (FFRDC) contractor employees, and Advisory & Assistance Services (A&AS) contractor employees supporting MDA/GMS who have signed Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDA) – unless the respondent clearly objects in writing to the release of this information to FFRDC and/or A&AS contractor employees in a cover letter accompanying the respondent’s submission. All Government and DoD contractor personnel reviewing RFI responses understand their responsibility for proper use and protection from unauthorized disclosure of proprietary information.

Upon review of the RFI responses, the Government may invite selected respondents to a 1-on-1 meeting in order to address any or all responses regarding the RFI. No additional notices will be posted for the 1-on-1 meetings. Respondents should respond to this RFI notice to be considered for a 1-on-1.

Responses to this RFI should be submitted to mda.redstone.mbx.mda-radars@mail.mil and copied to the Contracting Officer as follows:

Contracting Officer

Nicole Claytor

Nicole.Claytor@mda.mil

This RFI will have a classified annex. In order to receive it, please follow the below instructions: 

1. Complete the attached form (Document Access Agreement – Request Form)
2. Submit the form to the Contracting Officer (Nicole Claytor at Nicole.Claytor@mda.mil) and the Contract Specialist (Ryan McRae at Ryan.A.Mcrae@mda.mil) by unclassified email
3. Subject line of the email should read “Classified Documentation Request – Southeast Radar (Notice ID MDA25SNRFI04) – [company name]” where “[company name]” is the company name as indicated on the completed form