Sierra Nevada and Northrop Grumman square-off for Marine Corps counter-IED technology program
QUANTICO, Va., 24 Feb. 2014. Two U.S. defense contractors who are specialists in RF and microwave systems design will compete for as much as $180 million worth of business to build counter-IED systems to detect and defeat improvised explosive devices (IEDs) for the U.S. Marine Corps.
Officials of the Marine Corps Systems Command at Quantico Marine Base, Va., this month awarded contracts separately worth as much as $90 million to Sierra Nevada Corp. in Sparks, Nev., and to Northrop Grumman Information Systems segment in Herndon, Va., for the counter radio-controlled improvised explosive device (IED) electronic warfare Marine Expeditionary Unit Special Operation capable (CREW MEU (SOC), dismounted systems.
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The CREW MEU SOC systems for Marine Corps infantry will help warfighters defeat a broad range of radio-controlled bombs, and provide warfighters on foot with the ability to avoid IED attacks.
The CREW MEU SOC program addresses an urgent and compelling need for a capability to counter the threat posed by IEDs, Marine Corps officials say.
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Sierra Nevada and Northrop Grumman will compete for individual orders under terms of the contracts throughout a 5-year ordering period. The contractors each will deliver five CREW MEU SOC production systems for testing; after that the remaining 360 production systems will be competed for each new order, Marine Corps officials say.
The CREW MEU SOC systems to detect and defeat hidden IEDs will have some of the most sophisticated counter-IED technologies available today, military experts say. The two companies will do the work on the contracts in Sparks, Nev., and in Herndon, Va., and should be finished by February 2009.
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For more information contact Sierra Nevada online at www.sncorp.com, Northrop Grumman Information Systems at www.northropgrumman.com, or Marine Corps Systems Command at www.marcorsyscom.marines.mil.
John Keller | Editor
John Keller is editor-in-chief of Military & Aerospace Electronics magazine, which provides extensive coverage and analysis of enabling electronic and optoelectronic technologies in military, space, and commercial aviation applications. A member of the Military & Aerospace Electronics staff since the magazine's founding in 1989, Mr. Keller took over as chief editor in 1995.
