Navy to rethink its $500M jammer award
By
Nick Wakeman
Northrop Grumman’s protest of a $500 million contract to L3Harris for a next-generation radio jammer must have struck a nerve with the Navy because the service is taking a second look at its award decision.
Northrop Grumman’s protest of a $500 million contract to L3Harris Technologies for a next-generation radio jammer must have struck a nerve with the Navy.
The service is taking a second look at its award decision. Few details are available because of the classified nature of the work.
We do know the Navy told the Government Accountability Office that a corrective action is underway and the award to L3Harris has been pulled back. Because there is no current award, GAO dismissed Northrop Grumman’s protest. GAO did not make any ruling on whether the protest had any merit.
If the Navy again makes an award to L3Harris, then Northrop is free to come back with a new protest.
Northrop and L3Harris are locked in a competition to build the next generation jammer for the EA-18G Growler aircraft. The jammer -- a pod that sits under the plane’s wing -- allows the craft to conduct electronic warfare operations.
Both companies each had contracts for phase one of the procurement. The Navy picked L3Harris for further development and early deployment under phase two. The program could ultimately be worth billions.
Depending on the nature of the corrective action, it might be several months before another award is made and more protests seem likely as well.