$766M in New Contracts Awarded for B-52 Radar Modernization

The US Department of War has awarded two new contracts worth up to $766 million to Raytheon and Boeing for the B-52 Radar Modernization Program. This program aims to replace the existing AN/APQ-166 analogue radar with a more modern active electronically scanned array (AESA) radar, called the AN/APQ-188.

The new radar is already airborne, but it was supposed to have been flying two years ago. The first Radar Modernization Program aircraft landed at Edwards Air Force Base in December 2025 after completing ground integration and initial system checks.

Raytheon's contract, worth up to $603 million, covers production and sustainment of the AN/APQ-188 across the B-52 fleet, running through 20 August 2031. Boeing's delivery order, worth up to $162.97 million, is for bomb rack modernization kits.

The radar being replaced is an analogue mechanically scanned set that has largely disappeared from front-line service. The new AESA radar has no moving parts and can interleave several tasks at once, generating better ground maps and being harder to jam.