Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Rockwell Collins wins Navy E-6b upgrade

Rockwell Collins wins Navy E-6b upgrade

Aviation communications company Rockwell Collins will modernize and upgrade U.S. Navy airborne strategic command systems in a $295 million deal that includes work on aircraft involved with the operations. Rockwell Collins announced the contract from its Cedar Rapids, Iowa, headquarters, where the company has been based since Arthur Collins founded it in 1933. At the center of the modernization program are the Navy's E-6B aircraft that form the military's flying command post. The award includes a $54 million full-rate production contract, with unexercised options valued at an additional $241 million, to upgrade 11 aircraft as part of the Navy's E-6B Block I Modification program. The E-6B aircraft is used to conduct the "Take Charge and Move Out" mission, also known as TACAMO, and the U.S. Strategic Command Airborne Command Post missions. The open system solution provided by the Block I modification addresses immediate modernization requirements and enables system expansion in the future.