US Army, Navy, Say: Gotta Get a Garmin…

GPSMAP 696 Small business qualifier The Gyro House in Auburn, CA received a $6.6 million firm-fixed-price order via the General Services Administration (GSA) schedule for the procurement of 1,462 Garmin GPSMAP 696 units for the US Army (789) and US Navy (673). They’ll be accompanied by 293 GPSMAP 696/695 e-learning program CD-ROMs for the Army (158) and Navy (135). Work will be performed in Auburn, CA, and is expected to be complete in June 2011. This contract was competitively procured via a request for quotes under a GSA schedule E-buy; 5 firms were solicited and 1 offer was received by US Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD (N00019-10-F-0010). While Garmin GPS devices have become popular with troops, and even added maps for conflict zones like Iraq and Afghanistan, that isn’t what these are for. The GPSMAP 696 is an all-in-one navigator designed exclusively for aviation. Additions can provide the key functions of a Class 1/Class 2 electronic flight bag (EFB), its ChartView service utilizes Jeppesen’s extensive library to provide global geo-referenced charting, and its GXM 40 smart antenna offers access to high-resolution weather. Somehow, though, we doubt the Army and Navy will spring for the XM Radio subscription…