CREW(counter-radio controlled improvised explosive device) systems deny enemy use of selected portions of the radio frequency spectrum, which could be used to set off radio-controlled improvised explosive devices (RCIED). Radio-controlled devices are used to detonate IED land mines from a safe distance instead, and/or to jam the frequencies that could be used to trigger them. This jamming is sometimes an inconvenience to friendly forces, but so is being blown up.
CREW systems come in a couple of different Joint CREW versions, from older 2.x models to newer 3.x JCREW versions. In 2009, Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) in McLean, VA won a contract from the USMC as CREW’s program support integrator (PSI). That contract has grown, and now sits at $500 million…
Contracts & Key Events
According to the USMC, new methods for remotely triggering IEDs are developed as old ways are successfully countered. For this reason, the jamming system must be adaptable to new signal types. There is a pressing need for large numbers of mobile, high power, programmable jammers that will defeat the link to receivers for remotely-detonated land mines. The CREW PSI is responsible for the installation, de-installation, contractor logistics support and daily operational and intermediate levels of maintenance for the USMC CREW systems supporting combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as deployment training within the United States.
June 25/12: SAIC receives a contract modification, changing the CREW PSI’s maximum contract value to $500 million. The contract remains the same type, so funds will be allocated as work is ordered, and the USMC may not spend all $500 million over the 2009-2014 period.
Work will be performed in Charleston, SC (16.8%), Twentynine Palms, CA (5.5%), and Afghanistan (77.7%), and is expected to be complete by Aug 20/14. US Marine Corps Systems Command, Quantico, VA remains the contract manager (M67854-09-D-7005).
Aug 21/09: SAIC wins an estimated $120.2 million firm-fixed-priced, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract as the PSI for the US Marine Corps CREW program. SAIC will perform the work at various locations within the United States, Iraq and Afghanistan, and expects to complete it by August 2014. $22.4 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract was competitively procured via a Request for Proposal (M67854-09-R-7005), with 3 offers received by the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, VA (M67854-09-D-7005).