Raytheon's dismount detection radar, which tracks ground targets, will be installed on U.S. Air Force MQ-9 Reaper UAVs // U.S. Air Force

Less than two months after the Northrop Grumman protest of a contract decision that awarded Raytheon a deal to produce radar pods for the MQ-9 Reaper UAV was denied, Raytheon once again is announcing a win on the program.

The deal is for four dismount detection radar (DDR) pods, which track ground targets under varying weather conditions using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) technology, that will be mounted under the wings of the Reaper.

The original Feb. 2 award was contested by Northrop on the grounds that the two systems were improperly judged, according to the Government Accountability Office denial of the protest dated May 25.

“Protest alleging that contracting agency improperly and disparately evaluated proposals is denied where the record reflects that the evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the stated evaluation criteria, and that differences in the evaluation were not the result of unequal treatment,” the report said.

In a press release announcing the new deal, Raytheon pointed to its work on the Predator system as an example of its radar work on UAVs, and emphasized the improved intelligence gathering capabilities of the Reaper system.

“With increased resolution, range and coverage capabilities, the dismount detection radar offers persistent radar detection to find and track potential threats to warfighters, including vehicles and individuals in near real-time, day and night.”