By Ann Roosevelt
As anticipated this month, the Army issued a $138 million contract to Boeing [BA] for the low-rate-initial-production of the Brigade Combat Team Modernization (BCTM) Increment 1 capabilities.
Under the fixed-price contact, the team led by Boeing with support from SAIC [SAI] will equip the first Infantry Brigade Combat Team with these networked capabilities, along with associated system engineering and program management support.
“These capabilities are needed today by soldiers conducting combat operations in Afghanistan and elsewhere,” said Gregg Martin, Boeing Network & Tactical Systems vice president and BCTM program manager. “We are excited to begin production and look forward to working with our Army customer to get these capabilities, which reflect lessons learned from current operations, into the hands of soldiers as soon as possible.”
SAIC Senior Vice President and BCTM Deputy Program Manager Dan Zanini said: “I think SAIC and Boeing have both benefitted from the BCTM process, which sets us up well for future opportunities.”
As the prime contractor, Boeing is responsible for the development and production of BCTM Increment 1. Low-rate initial production will allow for the capabilities to be fielded to the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 1st Armored Division for initial operational test and evaluation beginning in 2011.
The contract award follows a successful production review by the Defense Acquisition Board in December.
Capabilities that will be produced under the contract include the iRobot [IBT] Small Unmanned Ground Vehicle:, the Honeywell [HON] Class I Unmanned Air Vehicle (UAV), Textron‘s [TXT] Unattended Ground Sensors: multi-mode surveillance sensors, and the Network Integration Kit providing the initial network connectivity needed to transfer sensor and communication data.