Northrop Grumman’s TRKT3 will build on the Tracking Layer capabilities of Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 with targeted technology enhancements, expanded coverage and increased integration including precision fire-control sensing. (Photo Credit: Northrop Grumman)
The Tranche 3 tracking layer will comprise 72 satellites to provide near-continuous global coverage, with half featuring payloads able to create fire-control data.
Dr. Douglas Matty, then-Army Artificial Intelligence Task Force Director, spoke to Association of the United States Army annual meeting attendees during the October 13, 2021 Army Advanced Technologies (Cloud and Data) Warriors Corner event at Washington, D.C.’s Walter E. Washington Convention Center. (Photo by Edward Loomis)
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks alongside Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth in the Oval Office at the White House on May 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump announced his plans for the “Golden Dome,” a national ballistic and cruise missile defense system. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
The vendors were tapped as part of the first phase of MDA’s contracting vehicle known as the Scalable Homeland Innovative Enterprise Layered Defense (SHIELD).
U.S. President Donald Trump speaks in front of a map of Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense system in the Oval Office at the White House on May 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
An upgraded Ground Based Interceptor with a Capability Enhanced-II Block 1 Exo-Atmospheric Kill Vehicle (EKV) is launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, during Flight Test Ground-based Midcourse Defense Weapon System-12, or FTG-12, on December 11, 2023. (Photo by Ryan Keith)
The contract awards come as the Pentagon continues to advocate for its access to the electromagnetic spectrum to operate the future Golden Dome missile defense architecture.
WASHINGTON, DC – MAY 20: Space Force General Michael Guetlein, speaks alongside Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN) and U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House on May 20, 2025 in Washington, DC. President Trump announced his plans for the “Golden Dome,” a national ballistic and cruise missile defense system. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after signing a series of executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House on January 23, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
