Army awards $419.6 million Apache radar contract to Lockheed-Northrop venture on a single bid

By Garrett Sloane

WASHINGTON — The Army has awarded a $419.6 million contract for Apache attack helicopter fire control radars and support to Longbow LLC, the Lockheed Martin–Northrop Grumman joint venture that has built the radar for more than three decades. Longbow was the only company asked to bid.

The contract, W58RGZ-27-D-A008, was announced Oct. 22. According to the Department of War announcement, it covers “fire control radar systems and post-production support services” for the AH-64D and AH-64E. It mixes cost-no-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee and firm-fixed-price terms. “One bid was solicited with one received,” the announcement says. Work locations and funding will be set order by order, and the estimated completion date is Jan. 31, 2032. Army Contracting Command at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., is the contracting office.

The $419.6 million is the contract’s announced value. No obligation at award was reported, and money will be committed only as the Army places orders.

A radar with one supplier

The AN/APG-78 Longbow radar sits in a dome above the Apache’s rotor and lets crews detect, classify and prioritize multiple ground, air and water targets in bad weather. Lockheed Martin says the two companies formed Longbow LLC in 1985 “with the Army’s encouragement.” Lockheed brought its Hellfire missile work and Northrop the processing technology from the F-16’s radar. The company says more than 550 Longbow systems have been delivered to 19 partners, including the U.S. Army and allied militaries. It calls the radar “the only FCR on an attack helicopter worldwide.”

That position explains the one-bid award. The joint venture designs, produces and sustains the radar, and the Army has bought it from Longbow for years without competition. The new contract follows W58RGZ22C0053, a life-cycle contractor support contract for the same radar. Federal spending data list that contract as “not competed,” with one offer, $59.3 million obligated and an end date of Dec. 31, 2026.

The contracting record

USAspending lists 75 Defense Department contracts and orders to Longbow LLC with activity since fiscal 2008. Their lifetime obligations total about $5.1 billion, including work that began earlier. In fiscal 2026, which ended Sept. 30, the joint venture’s net new obligations were about $78.7 million, according to the same data, which can lag by up to 90 days for defense awards.

Why it matters

Federal acquisition rules require full and open competition unless an exception applies. One exception covers cases where only one responsible source can meet the government’s needs. The Oct. 22 announcement does not say which exception the Army relied on. The Inquisitor is asking the Army’s aviation program office and Army Contracting Command at Redstone for the justification.

The award is one of three single-bid contracts among the 10 largest Pentagon contract actions announced the week of Oct. 19. The other two went to Authentic8 for Silo investigation software and Sigmatech for Small Business Innovation Research work, according to the department’s daily releases.

The Apache is expected to stay in Army service for decades, and the Longbow companies have kept upgrading the radar. They have doubled its maximum detection range and added a maritime mode for targets on the water, Lockheed says. The “post-production support” in the new contract’s description suggests the work centers on sustaining fielded radars rather than building new ones. The Inquisitor is asking the Army to confirm the mix.

Request for comment

The Washington Inquisitor is seeking comment from Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Boeing (which builds the Apache), the Army’s Program Executive Office for Aviation, Army Contracting Command–Redstone and the Cato Institute. This story will be updated with any responses.

Featured image: AH-64E Apache Guardian attack helicopters of the 1st Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment at Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii, June 26, 2014. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Jessica DuVernay, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.