The Navy awarded Corvid Technologies LLC a $223 million contract on March 4 to deliver sub-orbital flight vehicles over a five-year ordering period, which covers missile defense test targets.
This contract covers delivery of hardware, equipment, and components to manufacture and integrate short and medium-range sub-orbital flight vehicles to support the Navy, other government agencies, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) testing.
These will be exo-atmospheric rocket-based vehicles configured to deliver payloads and test articles “into a flight regime of interest for systems under test,” the announcement said.
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions [KTOS] said on Wednesday it is teaming up with Corvid on the award and the work includes missile defense test targets.
Kratos explained the team will provide vehicle design, engineering, manufacturing, integration, and launch support service for sub-orbital flight vehicles used as ballistic missile defense system (BMDS) test targets. The vehicles will also be used to develop and test prototype weapon systems.
“Our highly knowledgeable industry team is prepared to leverage its extensive experience from the Aegis Readiness Assessment Vehicles (ARAVs) program to provide sub-orbital rocket systems to meet the requirements of our long time Navy customer,” Dave Carter, president for Kratos’ defense and rocket support services division, said in a statement.
“Kratos is focused on providing responsive, affordable, and reliable sub-orbital vehicle solutions to meet emerging advanced target and hypersonic system needs,” he added.
The contract is split between the Navy (76 percent), other government agencies (12 percent), and FMS for Japan (12 percent). Most of the work will occur at the White Sands Missile Range, N.M., and is expected to be finished by February 2024.
In all, $8 million in FMS funds were obligated at award time and will not expire at the end of this fiscal year.
Kratos has previously won several missile defense test target awards, including a late 2017 award for Oriole rocket motor systems used on Aegis ballistic missile sub-orbital test targets. Those vehicles are called Aegis readiness assessment vehicles (Defense Daily, Dec. 22, 2017).
The Navy noted the contract was competitively procured on FedBizOpps with two offerors, but did not disclose the losing competitor.
Corvid is based in Mooresville, N.C., and is a subsidiary of CNO Government, LLC, a itself wholly owned by the Chickasaw Nation.