The Navy has updated its request for proposals (RFP) for the next contract for the Aegis Combat System and extended the deadline for contractors to submit bids to Dec. 15.
The Navy issued its RFP over the summer and set a Nov. 3 deadline for submissions. Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) this week revised the RFP to reflect changes based on questions received by potential contractors last month and moved back the deadline. The amended RFP is expected to be released Oct. 21.
Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Raytheon [RTN] have previously announced their intentions to bid for the lucrative contract, and Boeing [BA] recently said it’s interest in competing is “significant,” and would announce its final decision at a later date (Defense Daily, Oct. 3).
Lockheed Martin is the incumbent contractor, having inherited Aegis when it acquired Martin Marietta in 1995. It has been the sole contractor ever since, but the Navy wants to reopen the contract to a competitive process. Boeing potentially joining the bidding would add a fresh twist to the competition, as Raytheon was believed to be the only firm seriously considering a challenge to Lockheed Martin.
The Navy has continuously looked to upgrade the Aegis system on its fleet of Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) destroyers and Ticonderoga-class (CG-47) cruisers, the two families that use the advanced command and control system that harnesses radar tracking to guide weapons to targets.
Lockheed Martin also builds Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense, the cornerstone of the Navy’s sea-based BMD program, under a separate contract with the Pentagon’s Missile Defense Agency. The Navy plans to begin upgrading to the Multi-Mission Signal Processor (MMSP) on ships next year, which will effectively merge functioning of the combat system with the missile defense version, under the current contract with MDA.
The DDG-113 will be the first of the Arleigh Burke-class to be equipped with the MMSP by the time of its commissioning The Navy in June awarded construction of the DDG-113 to Huntington Ingalls Industries [HII]. It will built at the firm’s Pascagoula, Miss., yard.