The Air Force on Wednesday issued a stop work order to Northrop Grumman [NOC] for development activities on Air Operations Center Weapon System (AOC WS) 10.2 until further notice, according to a service statement.
Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said this is not a termination of the contract, rather that current fiscal year 2017 appropriation is insufficient to continue the program without additional funding this year. The Air Force, she said, will work with the milestone decision authority (Office of the Secretary of Defense/Acquisition, Technology and Logistics (AT&L)) to determine the way forward. 
Bloomberg first reported the news.
The AOC WS program modernizes the Air Force’s essential operational-level command and control centers to increase operational effectiveness and reduce costs, according to Northrop Grumman. The system has been plagued by problems over the years, including AOC WS 10.2 failing to complete a second round of developmental testing and the associated operational assessment activities, according to the Pentagon’s Office of Test and Evaluation.
The test was cancelled at the halfway point due to the number and severity of deficiencies identified. The program, as of January, was proceeding through a critical change review. Northrop Grumman declined to comment Friday.
Stefanek said the Air Force, last spring, recognized significant performance and schedule challenges when the program’s estimated Milestone C and full deployment decision were delayed for more than one year after the original estimate. Subsequently, she said, as part of the critical change process, the Pentagon determined that the requirements for the system remained valid, and no alternative to the current program that provided equal capability at less cost was identified. Stefanek said this resulted in a rebaselined cost and schedule profile for the program of record.
Stefanek said unless sufficient funding is secured for the remainder of FY ’17, the program must stop work until FY ’18 when additional funds should become available. She said the Air Force remains committed to meeting AOC 10.2 requirements and continues to explore faster ways to get capability to the field. Where possible and appropriate, the Air Force seeks open architecture solutions in its acquisition programs, which the service believes will ease future system upgrades, she said.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain Thursday in a statement welcomed the Air Force’s decision, saying the service initiated this modernization program more than eight years ago and spent nearly $400 million on it without delivering any meaningful capability. He applauded the service for taking responsibility for a troubled program and taking the initiative to reach a better solution.