Air Force asks BAE Systems to upgrade instrumentation range components and subsystems in $495.5 million deal

July 27, 2020
Contract covers instrumentation tracking systems worldwide to include radars, telemetry, flight termination systems, data acquisition, and GPS.

PATRICK AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. – Test and measurement experts at BAE Systems will upgrade, repair, and maintain military radars, telemetry and optical range mission systems, flight termination systems, data acquisition systems, and Global Positioning Systems under terms of a $495.5 million six-year contract announced Thursday.

Officials of the U.S. Air Force 45th Contracting Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., are asking the BAE Systems Technology Solutions and Services segment in Rockville, Md., to undertake the Instrumentation Range Support Program (IRSP).

This contract provides for serviceable components and subsystems for instrumentation tracking systems worldwide for foreign and domestic government agencies to include radars, telemetry and optical range mission systems, flight termination systems, data acquisition systems, and Global Positioning Systems (GPS).

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BAE Systems will provide components and subsystems for instrumentation tracking systems with a secondary purpose of obsolescence engineering and inventory management. The company will provide program management; obsolescence, remanufacture and fabrication; test and specialized equipment; and stock replenishment.

While these instrumentation tracking systems have basic similarities, they have been modified individually for each user’s mission requirements. There are 27 ranges participating in the program; including Air Force, Army, Navy, NASA, Department of Energy, and six foreign ranges in the United Kingdom, Germany, Norway, Sweden, Republic of Korea, and Switzerland.

BAE Systems will evaluate, develop, and replace obsolete and non-obtainable parts and components for all supported instrumentation tracking systems, and recommend engineering changes to improve performance, reliability, maintainability, and reduce operating costs. The company, however, will carry out no engineering changes until the Air Force obtains adequate funding.

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BAE Systems may overhaul or build from scratch instrumentation tracking system components and subsystems not directly related to a specific range. The company also will tell the government when test and specialized equipment needs to be acquired or replaced.

BAE Systems also will carry out pre- and post-testing to ensure the overhaul the equipment meets operational standards. On this contract BAE Systems will do the work at ranges covered in the contract, and should be finished by September 2027.

For more information contact BAE Systems Technology Solutions and Services online at www.baesystems.com, or the Air Force 45th Contracting Squadron at www.patrick.af.mil/Units.

About the Author

John Keller | Editor-in-Chief

John Keller is the Editor-in-Chief, Military & Aerospace Electronics Magazine--provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronics and optoelectronic technologies in military, space and commercial aviation applications. John has been a member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since 1989 and chief editor since 1995.

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