10 Year Contract For NextGen Research, Development, And
Support
The FAA has awarded a major research & development support
contract worth up to $1.7 billion for the Next-Generation Air
Transportation System (NextGen) to Boeing, the company announced
Thursday.
Prime focus areas of the contract include air traffic management
modeling and simulation as well as the full integration of ground
and airborne technologies and operations across all vehicle types,
including commercial and military aircraft, general aviation,
unmanned aerial systems, and rotorcraft. Boeing will perform work
that will demonstrate NextGen procedures in real time on a large
scale within the current air traffic system.
"This is a great example of Boeing joining with the best of
industry to provide a world-class team for the next generation of
air traffic management," said Greg Deiter, Boeing vice president of
Defense & Government Services. "By applying fully integrated
solutions – from concept development to full-scale flight
demonstrations – our team is ready to assist the government
in developing and testing advanced air traffic management concepts
that will improve safety, reliability and efficiency."
The comprehensive industry team Boeing has assembled for SE2020
includes airframers Airbus and Cessna, and the strongest ground
infrastructure provider, Lockheed Martin, to provide the effective
systems engineering support needed to ensure that aviation
stakeholders see the benefits of NextGen as quickly as
possible.
The Boeing team also includes Adacel, Ensco, Embry-Riddle
Aeronautical University, Harris, Honeywell, Jeppesen, Jerry
Thompson & Associates, Mosaic ATM, Spectrum Software Technology
Inc., Tetra Tech AMT, and the Washington Consulting Group.
Currently, Boeing has agreements in place with both Airbus and
Lockheed Martin to jointly work NextGen solutions. Boeing and
Airbus both have a vested interest in harmonizing air traffic
systems globally. And the Boeing partnership with Lockheed Martin
enables the two companies to fully address the critical integration
of ground systems and airborne platforms.
All of the partners on the Boeing team were selected to leverage
their experience and expertise in advanced air traffic management
research. The team intends to fully apply integration solutions
– from concept development to full-scale flight
demonstrations – to assist the FAA in taking these concepts
to the next phase.
"This is an unprecedented industry response to support the FAA
on NextGen," said Gene Hayman, Boeing's SE2020 program manager.
"NextGen is a national imperative and delivering early benefits are
vitally important to our customers. This team has the right breadth
and depth of capabilities to ensure the FAA's success in delivering
these NextGen benefits."
The FAA has structured SE2020 as a set of multiple-award,
10-year umbrella contracts. The contract to Boeing has a five-year
base with options for another five years. In addition to the Boeing
contract, the FAA also awarded SE2020 contracts to General Dynamics
and ITT. Total worth of these three contracts is potentially $4.4
billion. Two more contracts are expected to be awarded under
SE2020, which has a ceiling of $7 billion, making it the largest
set of awards in FAA history.