ITT Corporation announced it was awarded a USD 207 million initial contract by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to lead a team to develop and deploy the Automatic Dependent Surveillance – Broadcast (ADS-B) system. ADS-B is a key component of the FAA’s NextGen program intended to increase safety and efficiency to meet the growing needs of air transportation.
The period of performance for the initial contract is three years, with a contract value of $207 million. Under the contract, ITT will be responsible for overall system integration and engineering and under contract options will operate and maintain the system after deployment through September 2025. The contract has a potential value with all options exercised of $1.86 billion.
The ITT team includes its partners AT&T, Thales North America, WSI, SAIC, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, Aerospace Engineering, Sunhillo, Comsearch, MCS of Tampa, Pragmatics, Washington Consulting Group, Aviation Communications and Surveillance Systems (ACSS), Sandia Aerospace and NCR Corporation.
The ITT team will work with the FAA to deploy a nationwide air traffic control surveillance network consisting of field radio sites, data processing centers, network operations centers, and equipment to enable delivery of surveillance data to air traffic control facilities. The deployed ADS-B surveillance network is designed to provide more accurate and rapidly updating position data using GPS to determine aircraft position.
Other major benefits of the system include a surveillance network that is more cost effective than today’s network of radar systems, a potential future data link for delivery of safety information to aircraft cockpits, and a mechanism for future air-to-air exchange of position data which will dramatically enhance pilot situational awareness.