Insitu Inc., Bingen,Washington, is being awarded $22,728,810 for modification P00030 to a previously awarded firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract (N00019-13-D-0016).
No funds will be obligated at the time of award. Funding will be obligated on individual task orders as they are issued. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
This modification provides for additional field service representatives, training and program management services for the ScanEagle Unmanned Aviation System in support of Navy Special Warfare fleet operations. Work will be performed in Bagram, Afghanistan (83 percent); and Bingen, Washington (27 percent), and is expected to be completed in September 2018.
In November, Northrop Grumman delivered the first operational MQ-4C Triton aircraft to the U.S. Navy facility at Point Mugu. Now, Naval Air Systems Command has awarded Northrop Grumman a contract to acquire an initial production of three MQ-4C Triton unmanned aerial aircrafts, included in a plan to purchase 68 Tritons to modernize the Navy's UAV fleet.
The MQ-4C Triton is a derivative of the RQ-4 Global Hawk surveillance unmanned aerial vehicle. The Navy plans to use the Triton alongside the P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft as the Navy's primary long-range aerial intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platform. The terms of the deal, announced Thursday by the Department of Defense, come under a $255.3 million a fixed-price-incentive contract, which is a modification to a previously awarded contract.
The Triton has a range of over 9,000 miles and can hover for up to 24 hours before needing to refuel. Triton is designed as a sensor platform for high-altitude, long-endurance surveillance missions over ocean and coastal areas, deploying its maritime radar, electro-optical and infrared cameras, communications relays and electronic support measures systems.
Officials of the Naval Air Systems Command at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, Md.,awarded an $8.8 million contract this week to Boeing Insitu Inc. in Bingen, Wash., for one low-rate-initial-production of RQ-21A Blackjack UAV, to include air vehicles, ground control stations, launch and recovery equipment, and air vehicle support equipment.
The Boeing Insitu RQ-21 is a twin-boom, single-engine, monoplane UAV for surveillance and reconnaissance. The Blackjack — so-named last September — is eight feet long with a 16-foot wingspan designed to carry multi-sensor payloads in large pod below its nose. The UAV can fly as fast as 104 miles per hour, cruises at 63 miles per hour, can fly as long as 24 hours, and can fly as high as 19,500 feet.
It is a version of the Insitu Integrator UAV. The multi-mission RQ-21A Blackjack’s open-architecture payload bays can be customized with visible-light and infrared cameras, communications and other tools to give warfighters on the forward edge of battle situational awareness information. The Blackjack’s standard sensor payload consists of a visible-light imager, mid-wave infrared imager, laser rangefinder, infrared marker, communications, and Automatic Identification System (AIS).
The RQ-21A will provide persistent maritime and land-based tactical Reconnaissance, Surveillance, and Target Acquisition (RSTA) data collection and dissemination capabilities to the warfighter. For the Navy the Blackjack will provide persistent RSTA information to Navy ships, Marine Corps land forces, Navy expeditionary combat command forces and Navy special warfare units. In the future the U.S. Air Force may use the RQ-21A for persistent RSTA for security forces, integrated base defense, convoy protection, and weather analysis.
