WASHINGTON -- Engineers from The Boeing Co. Space & Communications Group in Anaheim, Calif., are pushing ahead with developing the National Missile Defense (NMD) system under terms of a U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) contract awarded Dec. 22.

The potential $6 billion contract, from the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization's (BMDO) National Missile Defense Joint Program Office in Arlington, Va., exercises options to continue development and testing the NMD system while deferring a deployment decision to incoming President George W. Bush, DOD officials say.

The contract, which is for Jan. 1, 2001 through Sept. 30, 2007, covers Boeing-Anaheim and its major subcontractors in Huntsville, Ala.; Tucson, Ariz.; Sudbury and Bedford, Mass.; and Colorado Springs, Colo., DOD officials say.

No decision has been made to deploy a NMD system, and this contract award does not change the current NMD system architecture or any previously planned system elements, DOD officials emphasize.

The contract has a full potential value of $13 billion, if all future options are exercised. In April 1998, Boeing was selected as the Lead System Integrator (LSI), or prime contractor, for the NMD system.

The initial contract awarded to Boeing in 1998 will expire in April 2001, and does not reflect present-day NMD program requirements relating to initial deployment, countermeasures mitigation, and the need for an improved test program.

Award of the Dec. 22 contract ensures continuity of the development and test program, and eliminates the potential for interruption of planned test activities, DOD officials say.