GPS OCX Contract Awarded: Some Observations

February 25, 2010 By: Don Jewell

The United States Air Force awarded the long-awaited and often delayed next phase of the GPS OCX contract this afternoon. There were two competitors, Northrop Grumman and Raytheon. The contract was awarded to Raytheon Space System of Aurora, Colorado. The almost $850 million contract is for the ground support and space control segment of the Global Positioning System.

OCX will replace the struggling AEP system that has been in place at Schriever Air Force Base for the last 28 months. AEP has always been known as a stopgap program. Some have called it a cul-de-sac. But AEP managed to get the job done, albeit not without some problems and controversy along the way. It will be the control system of record for at least the next 4-5 years while OCX is fully developed and comes online sometime in the 2014-2015 timeframe. For GPS users around the globe, OCX FOC (full operational capability) cannot come too soon.

The Raytheon team has several partners: Boeing, ITT, Braxton Technologies, and Infinity Systems.

We spoke immediately after the award was announced to Mark Pisani, vice president and general manager of ITT Geospatial Systems’ navigation business area, and Joe Rolli, ITT OCX program manager. They were excited about the award, but at the same time were quick to point out that they have been working on this project for more than a year now in preparation for this award, and would officially start work tomorrow on the actual OCX project.

We also spoke with the CEO of Braxton Technologies, located in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Frank Backes. Backes said, "The Braxton involvement and focus on the GPS support mission for the last decade has certainly been an exciting time for Braxton. The confidence and support the USAF has shown in the Raytheon/Braxton team is definitely the foundation that will carry us forward in the future and will allow the team to build a GPS that is second to none and that the warfighter can count on."

The majority, about 95 percent of the Raytheon work, will be conducted in Aurora, Colorado; the Infinity Systems and Braxton Technology teams will work from Colorado Springs, Colorado; while the majority of the ITT work will be conducted in Clifton, New Jersey.

It is an exciting day for the modernization and future of the USAF GPS program. OCX offers an incredible opportunity for the USAF GPS to be modernized and maintained as the global PNT gold standard. At GPS World we congratulate the Raytheon Team and look forward to reporting the teams progress that evidently starts as early as tomorrow.