ITT Exelis wins $10M Navy contract for airborne minesweeping system

ITT Exelis has won a $10 million contract to provide an airborne minesweeping system to the U.S. Navy.

Specifically, the company will provide the system to the U.S. Naval Surface Warfare Center Panama City Division in Panama City, Fla.

The Exelis MK 105 Mod 4 system will provide reliability and performance improvements, enabling the Navy to better conduct high-speed, quick response airborne mine countermeasures missions for the next 10 years, the company said in a release.

ITT Exelis said that the system has been used in every major mine-clearance operation since its introduction to the U.S. Navy fleet in 1972.

Lockheed wins $166.8M NASA contract extension

Lockheed Martin has won a $166.8 million contract option for work with NASA on mission control systems and other support work for manned spaceflight missions.

The option brings the value of the Facilities Development and Operations Contract to $1 billion and extends the contract through Sept. 30, 2014, NASA said.

Not just a tank story

The Army doesn’t want more tanks, but Republicans and Democrats in Congress keep shoving money -- to the tune of $436 billion over two years -- to modernize a fleet of tanks that doesn’t need modernizing.

The Associated Press is reporting that the Army wants to suspend the buying of Abrams tanks until 2017, when a newer version will be ready for production.

Plenty of unanswered questions about $10B OASIS contract

One of the most closely watched procurements of the year is the General Services Administration’s proposed OASIS vehicle, a multiple award contract designed to provide integration services for complex solutions. GSA issued the draft request for proposals in March and is expected to issue the final request for proposals later this summer.

Intell community showers more love on the cloud

In-Q-Tel, the CIA’s venture capital group, has invested in Apigee, a developer of a cloud platform for sharing data and services through apps.

Apigee has developed an application programming interface, or API, that In-Q-Tel believes can benefit the intelligence community.

SBA opens roadshow for women-owned businesses

The Small Business Administration is going on the campaign trail to promote opportunities for women-owned contracting firms, Government Executive reported.

U.S. courts release $95M Dell product contract

The U.S. judiciary is developing a blanket purchase agreement to buy nearly $100 million on a variety of Dell products and related services.

The products will include IT systems, wide area networks, local area networks and software applications for the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, courthouses and data centers.

MCR Federal forms program management alliance

MCR Federal and Safran North America LLC have formed an alliance that will let the two companies develop and integrate program management solutions.

Both companies have strengths in program management, and this collaboration will bring together MCR’s Linked CREST Analysis and Assessment process, a data analytics tool, with Safran’s program management solutions, the companies said in a statement.

China telecom dumps fed market

New restrictions on what the federal government can buy from China have led one company to leave the U.S. market, FCW is reporting.

Huawei, a China-based telecom company, is no longer interested in the United States, one of their executives told the China Morning Post. Instead they will look to Europe to expand.

DHS develops ID management contract

The Homeland Security Department is developing a single-award, task order contract for an identity management system that will issue 300,000 IDs.

The contract will support implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive – 12 (HSPD-12), which is supposed to increase security, reduce identity fraud and protect personal privacy.