Up to $545M Over 3 Years for Basic Radio Spectrum Support (updated)
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On August 4, 2005, DefenseLINK announced that ITT Industries Inc., DBA(Doing Business As) Advanced Engineering & Sciences in Reston, VA won a 10-year, indefinite-delivery/ indefinite-quantity contract with the Defense Information Systems Agency, Joint Spectrum Center. This contract “will provide the Joint Spectrum Center with electromagnetic spectrum engineering services, to include engineering and analysis; information management; standards development and application; measurement, testing, and evaluation; modeling and simulation; research and evaluation of emerging technologies; interference resolution; and ordnance risk assessment.”
What does that mean, why is this award to an ITT-led team important, and who is on the team?
The Joint Spectrum Center: Mission
DISA’s Joint Spectrum Center describes its mission this way:
“Operation DESERT STORM (Iraq, 1991) demonstrated the effective use of electronic systems as force multipliers on the modern battlefield. The warfighters’ reliance on these spectrum-dependent systems will continue to grow as US forward-based military forces are reduced and new threats to world-wide political stability emerge. The electromagnetic spectrum will be used to see and sense the battlefield, to communicate warfighting intent, to engage the enemy beyond visual range, and to own the night. It will be used to guide smart weapons, to ensure effective communications, and to counter enemy command and control.
Simultaneously, private sector requirements for the spectrum are rapidly increasing to accommodate products and services for sale in the commercial marketplace. Congressional action to reallocate the spectrum and auction portions of it to the private sector have placed increased pressure to manage the spectrum efficiently and plan for its use in both peace and war with increasing detail.
The Joint Spectrum Center’s charter to ensure the DoD’s effective and efficient use of the electromagnetic spectrum comes at a critical period in history. For hand-in-hand with the existence of a fighting force goes the mission of providing its members with adequate, interference-free access to the electromagnetic spectrum.
Today that mission is being carried out by JSC engineers and software experts working daily to ensure that the Military Services, non-DoD government, and the commercial sector can share a resource that has become essential to both US military and US economic survival – the electromagnetic spectrum.”
The Contract & Team
The ITT team on the Joint Spectrum Center contract includes:
- Andrew Corp. subsidiary Comsearch
- IBM
- Microsoft Corp.
- URS division EG&G Technical Services
- Small businesses ANDRO Computational Solutions; Digital Management, Inc; Freedom Technologies, Inc.; and Microsoft partner MicroLink, LLC.
The maximum estimated cost for the base period is $147.9 million, and FY 2005 research and development funding was provided. The contract has a three-year base period plus seven one-year option periods, and ITT’s November 1, 2006 release notes that if all options on the contract are exercised, it has a potential total value of $545 million. It adds that under the contract, ITT’s team “will provide engineering systems support, technical analysis, test support, and long-term strategic planning as JSC meets national security and military objectives related to the use of electromagnetic spectrum.”
The requirement was solicited on a full and open basis, and three offers were received. The Joint Spectrum Center and contractor’s facilities in Annapolis, MD issued the contract (HC1047-05-C-4049).
