Lockheed wins $233M full-rate award for IRST21 Block II sensors for US Navy pods and ANG F‑16s

Lockheed Martin was awarded a $233 million firm‑fixed‑price contract to deliver IRST21 Block II infrared search‑and‑track systems and initial spares to the U.S. Navy and Air National Guard. The award establishes full‑rate production for Navy pods despite earlier reliability and integration concerns.

Discovered 2025-10-20T06:28:59.550667-07:00 | 2025-10-20T06:28:59.550667-07:00

Briefing

What Hype is tracking

  • The contract is a $233 million firm‑fixed‑price award to deliver IRST21 Block II systems and initial spares to the U.S. Navy and Air National Guard, marking full‑rate production for sensor pods despite documented reliability and integration issues.
  • IRST21 deliveries will affect airborne sensor capability for carrier/sea‑based F/A‑18 pods and Air National Guard F‑16s, alongside other recent efforts to upgrade F‑16 survivability and avionics (see the U.S. push to rapidly field EW suites to F‑16s: https://hype.aero/?story=75f5356f-baa6-48cf-98c5-0a30323390c7).
  • The award comes amid a heavy Lockheed production and contract flow, including large recent wins in fighter and air‑defense programs, which bears on program schedules, supplier load and industrial capacity: https://hype.aero/?story=9a460b6e-0fa3-4e55-be10-33f4420fb55c.

Reported By

arabiandefence.com zona-militar.com news.ssbcrack.com milmag.pl naval-technology.com aero-defence.tech
Sources Tracked
24
First Seen
2025-10-20T06:28:59.550667-07:00
Latest Update
2025-10-26T22:55:36.385425-07:00
Coverage
Defense

Sources

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