IC Technology & Surveillance — 2026-05-12

Space Force to Overhaul Early Warning and Surveillance Radars Worldwide

Space Systems Command's May 7 solicitation on SAM.gov formally launched competition for the Ground Based Radar Digitization (GBRD) program, covering front-to-back analog-to-digital hardware and software replacement across eight legacy missile warning and space surveillance radars. The sites include five Upgraded Early Warning Radars at Pituffik, RAF Fylingdales, Clear, Beale, and Cape Cod, per the notice and Air and Space Forces Magazine; the remaining three are PARCS at Cavalier Space Force Station, Cobra Dane at Eareckson Air Station, and the C-6 at Eglin AFB. SSC expects to select a vendor pool in June under middle-tier acquisition authority approved in November, with the FY2027 budget requesting $128 million and $654 million projected through FY2031.

Analysis
The scope expansion to front-to-back digitization signals Space Force judged analog hardware an operational risk, not a sustainment liability; the common virtual-stack software collapses eight programs into one and enables fused tracking across the network for the first time. Corroborated by a live SAM.gov solicitation, approved MTA authority, and a $128 million FY2027 budget line, this is a mature procurement. Space Force will likely award at least one GBRD contract by end of 2028. Cobra Dane's Aleutian position covers Russian missile test ranges no other sensor replicates, making any transition-period processing gap a near-term NORTHCOM intelligence hole. The Pentagon's $1.98 billion Golden Dome allocation could absorb or restructure GBRD before June vendor selection.

2 sources

Space Force to Overhaul Key Early Warning, Surveillance Radars Around the World - Air & Space Forces Magazine
Space Force floats new sensor modernization initiative: Ground Based Radar Digitization - Inside Defense