A federal judge says a contractor’s challenge to a multibillion-dollar missile defense award can proceed, raising the stakes for both national defense and Huntsville workforce.

U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Armando Bonilla handed the procedural victory to Raytheon Co. in a sealed order dated Feb. 13 and released with light redactions Monday.

Raytheon had claimed in a November filing that the Missile Defense Agency acted in an “arbitrary and irrational” way last year when it awarded Northrop Grumman Corp. a contract to produce the glide phase interceptor. The company is asking the court to order MDA to cancel the award to Northrop Grumman and reconsider its own bid.

GPI is designed to defend against hypersonic missiles, which travel many times the speed of sound, during their “glide phase” – the time of atmospheric flight following a ballistic launch. During the glide phase, hypersonic missiles pose a unique threat because they are faster and more maneuverable than ballistic missiles.

The latest ruling means lawyers for Raytheon and the federal government will make additional filings for judgment. The court has initially set an April deadline.

In a motion to dismiss the challenge, lawyers for the United States noted the Missile Defence Agency’s competition for GPI prototypes occurred not through the traditional procurement process but rather under an “Other Transaction Authority” contract, often used to rapidly procure prototypes of emerging technologies. Deputy U.S. attorneys argued Raytheon’s suit was not subject to the federal claims court’s jurisdiction over bid protests.

Bonilla’s order forcefully shut down that line of reasoning. The judge characterized Othere Transaction Authorities and similar “other transaction” procurement methods as “ill-defined and oft-evolving prototype projects” that are nevertheless de facto under his court’s jurisdiction.

“The annual award of billions in taxpayer dollars cannot evade judicial scrutiny, nor be returned to the whims of tactical forum shopping,” he wrote. “Nothing in the statutory scheme or legislative history behind the grant of OT authority suggests that Congress intended to exempt awards under these contracting vehicles from judicial scrutiny.”

Moreover, Bonilla characterized Raytheon’s claims that it suffered economic harm due to MDA’s actions as “non-frivolous.”

MDA first announced development for a glide phase interceptor in April 2021 and made initial awards to start analysis work in November to Raytheon, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin Corp. The latter was dropped from the competition the following year.

The most recent court papers are more lightly redacted than previous documents reported on by The Huntsville Times, giving greater insight into each company’s approach to the challenges of intercepting hypersonic missiles.

Specifically, court documents show Raytheon was planning an aeroshell breakup or “blast fragmentation” approach that would disable hostile missiles without impacting them, while Northrop Grumman’s plans involved a payload defeat or “hit-to-kill” approach. Raytheon claimed its method was easier to implement, faster to develop and more cost-effective, though more likely to create hazardous debris at the intercept site.

By 2023, MDA had entered the technology development phase, which was estimated to run through 2029 at a cost of about $2.5 billion. That phase – the precursor to actual product development — called on the two companies to build and test hardware and software for potential prototypes.

Court documents state MDA intended to advance only one missile concept to product development, though the agency stated in a 2023 acquisition plan that the competition could continue into that phase given appropriate funding and technical merit of the two designs.

With interest and funding on the rise, MDA issued a request for prototype proposals in May 2024, with $650 million in funding and a deadline of 2030. It then entered an agreement with Japan under which that country would lead development of certain GPI engine components.

Documents state Japan’s Ministry of Defense expressed a preference for the hit-to-kill approach that Northrop Grumman was developing, leading MDA to request data from Raytheon regarding how well its solution could perform that task. Because Raytheon’s blast fragmentation approach is intended to disable, rather than destroy, hostile missiles, Raytheon claims the data it submitted, “does not capture the company’s true capabilities,” according to Bonilla’s February order.

In September, MDA cut Raytheon from the GPI program. Raytheon filed the bid protest in November, alleging MDA:

• Improperly evaluated its proposal using unstated selection criteria
• Imposed added scrutiny on its design that it did not apply to Northop Grumman’s
• Ignored Congress’ wish that the GPI achieve operational capability by the end of 2029

Raytheon had planned to work on the glide phase interceptor at its Redstone Arsenal missile integration facility. The company announced last year that a $115 million expansion of the facility, which will add 26,000 square feet and increase available space by 50%, was being done in part to support its GPI ambitions.

Previous contract notices related to Northrop Grumman’s GPI work indicated some of the development took place in Huntsville. Yet according to a November notice of the GPI prototype award, Northrop Grumman will perform the next phases of development in Chandler, Ariz. The dollar value of the award had risen to $832.7 million as of late last year.

GPI has taken on added significance with the new presidential administration’s focus on missile defense. President Donald Trump’s “Iron Dome” executive order specifically mentioned the threat of hypersonic missiles. The nation’s work-in-progress missile defense system is now known as “Golden Dome.”