By Marina Malenic
Unseating an incumbent contractor, the Air Force and Navy have awarded a $43 million contract for the continued development of a joint air mission planning framework.
BAE Systems said last week that it was chosen to perform the work leading to the Joint Mission Planning System (JMPS) Version 1.4.
JMPS provides support for unit-level mission planning of all phases of military flight operations. The program is used by the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. The Army mission planning office also sits in on development meetings and is expected to adopt the system in the future, according to the JMPS chief engineer at BAE, Clarence Nakamaru.
“Part of our responsibility will be to maintain, fix and enhance legacy JMPS versions,” Nakamaru told Defense Daily in a brief telephone interview last week. “But our primary work will be on the framework for [Version] 1.4 and the migration to a services-oriented architecture.”
JMPS integrates fixed and rotary wing aircraft, weapons–including precision guided munitions (PGMs) and cruise missiles–and sensors into a single operating picture.
The program began in 1997 with the objective of replacing legacy planning systems and providing crews with automated flight planning tools for aircraft, weapons and sensors. Northrop Grumman [NOC] was selected in 1999 to develop JMPS Version 1.0, the framework and common software components for the system.
In July 2001, the Navy awarded Northrop Grumman a follow-on contract to develop JMPS Version 1.1. That version was the first operational JMPS to be fielded and was used by Navy F-14, F/A-18, and E-2C aircraft. Version 1.1 augmented the initial capability with cryptography, Global Positioning System connectivity and PGM planning functions. Version 1.2, also developed by Northrop Grumman, enabled linking of PGM routes to aircraft routes.
In May 2003, the Air Force increased and centralized mission planning funding, which resulted in the program being designated a Preliminary-Major Defense Acquisition Program.
Northrop Grumman Mission Systems spokesman George Seffers confirmed loss of the contract last week.
“Obviously, we are disappointed,” he told Defense Daily. “We’ve worked on the system for many years.”
Under last week’s deal, BAE will further develop the architecture of the current JMPS framework as it transitions from disparate functions to a single network-centric operation.
Nakamaru explained that the upgrade to netcentric interoperability will facilitate data sharing between the services. He said performance and cost were major issues in the decision to award the contract to BAE.
“It was a major win for us,” he said. “We are now clearly one of the premier mission-planning contractors in the world.”