Final settling up results in a government credit; Program details and history expanded. (Oct 22/10)
The future E-10A MC2 (Multi-sensor Command & Control) program was conceived as a fusion of Northrop Grumman’s advanced Multi-Platform Radar Technology Insertion Program (MP-RTIP) Wide-Area Surveillance (WAS) radar and Battle Management Command and Control (BMC2) mission suite into a modified passenger jet (likely a 767), creating a successor to both the E-3 AWACS air surveillance and E-8 JSTARS ground surveillance and SIGINT (signals intelligence) /communications relay planes. This multi-duty approach provides flexibility, but also invites potential shortages and overuse unless the system can be procured in sufficient numbers or supplemented with less expensive options (see “Brittle Swords: Low-Density, High-Demand Assets” [PDF] for a deeper discussion).
The entire program could easily have been worth $10 billion. On February 23/07, however, the firm received notice from the U.S. Air Force that the E-10A MC2 Weapon System Integration (WSI) program was being formally ended. So, what now for the E-10’s technology? And why is this still relevant in 2010?
IAP World Services in Panama City, FL received a $12.4 million firm-fixed-price contract exercising the 2nd option year (3rd year of service) to operate and maintain the electrical power grids at Forward Operating Bases Salerno, north of Khowst and Sharana in Paktika Province, Afghanistan. The contracts will run until Oct 15/12. Bids were solicited via the Federal Business Opportunities website, with 5 bids received by the Defense Contract Management Agency at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan (W91B4N-07-C-0075).
Previous awards under this contract have not been publicly announced.
