Thales Raytheon received $50 million BCS-F contract

Published 4 January 2007

Bitter feeling over the initial Battle Control System-Fixed contract does not stop the Air Force from handing over an additional $50 million; system is intended to improve military response to aircraft security problems; BCS-F seen as long behind schedule; cost-overruns a serious concern

Fullerton, California-based Thales Raytheon Systems is set to receive another contract for its ongoing efforts to help the Air Force develop the Battle Control System-Fixed (BCS-F) - the national airspace security system meant to prevent aviation terrorism. According to an Aviation Now report, the $50 million contract requires the company to develop and deliver Common Battle Management Software (CBMS), Spiral 3 Sentry software updates for the BCS-F, and system documentation. It will also provide unique system training, integration, logistics support, and associated engineering feasibility/system support studies.

The new contract is somewhat controversial due to lingering concern about the way the initial agreement for the BCS-F was delivered. An 8 November draft Air Force Audit Agency point paper allegedly showed that the Air Force accepted the BCS-F proposal even though it did not meet the Air Force-established initial operational capability (IOC) criteria as a standalone command-and-control (C2) system. “The BCS-F neither passed government-required tests nor met ACC-established criteria for initial operational capability,” the point paper said, pointing to 404 open deficiencies, 166 baseline change requests, and 111 withdrawn deficiencies, with 16 of the latter being Category I — those that needed the most attention. Moreover, by 6 October it was clear that the program’s original schedule had slipped 22 months and program costs had exceeded the original estimate by $65 million.

If and when BCS-F becomes operational, it will be used in four U.S. air defense sectors — the Northeast sector centered at Rome, New York; the Western sector based just outside Seattle; a Hawaii sector, and an Alaska sector. A sector in Canada, run by the Canadian air force under the auspices of the North American Aerospace Defense Command, will also have an operational BCS-F system. The system is intended to replace the Joint Surveillance System, which has been operational since the 1980s.

-read more in Michael Fabey’s Aviation Now report