CACI to build microwave towers for Marines

CACI International Inc. will improve the Marine Corps' communications system under a task order worth a maximum of $29 million.

Under the General Services Administration's Connections contract vehicle, CACI will provide wide-area network infrastructure design, fabrication, installation and validation of five microwave relay towers for the Naval Surface Warfare Center's Marine Air Ground Task Force Training Command.

The towers will assist Marines' training to complete their missions more efficiently through enhanced communications, CACI officials said.

The 90-foot high, multi-decked, steel and composite microwave towers will be erected on remote mountaintop sites near the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twenty-nine Palms military reservation, Calif. Heavy-lift and passenger helicopters will be used to haul the steel components as well as the excavation and earth-moving machinery, the communications equipment, and the personnel required to build and service the solar-powered installations, the officials said.

The innovative design of the towers incorporates the latest technologies, manufacturing techniques, and installation procedures that reduce the total cost of ownership and minimize structural and support risk during installation and for the operational life of the structures, they said. In addition, the towers were designed for possible use in other Defense Department and federal civilian agency applications.

Connections is an indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity, single governmentwide contract for telecommunications infrastructure equipment and solutions. The program allows agencies to order equipment or services for one-time purchases or complex telecommunications integration services, GSA said.

CACI, of Arlington, Va., ranks No. 17 on Washington Technology's 2008 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.