Navy expects CANES awards by late June

The Navy expects to make multiple awards unders its $1 billion Consolidated Afloat Network Enterprise Services contract by the end of June.

Meanwhile, Northrop Grumman received a six-month extension from the Navy in late September to continue installation of the CANES Limited Deployment contract, the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) announced Tuesday. That extension ends March 31.

The CANES’ follow-on contract currently is in the solicitation phase of a full-and-open competition. Documents posted by Deltek indicated that the Navy has set June 30 as the deadline for an award.

The sole-source extension, however, allowed SPAWAR to acquire seven CANES production units without having to wait to get the new multiple-award contract up and running, according to the Navy's justification for the extension.

CANES is a Navy initiative to replace existing afloat networks on the Nacy's fleet and provide the necessary infrastructure for applications, systems, and services to operate in the tactical domain. SPAWAR is using it to consolidate the infrastructure of existing, but separately managed, afloat networks. It will remove various legacy systems.

One of the goals of CANES is making the network of communications and systems command more efficient.

SPAWAR made the initial CANES contract award to Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman in 2010. In 2012, officials opted to keep only Northrop Grumman. The Navy extended the contract on a sole-source basis for an undisclosed amount of money.

Navy legal and procurement officials signed the justification and approval documents in August and September.