Army finalizes $910M test, engineering award
An AH-64E Apache helicopter returns from a July 13-Aug. 4, 2021 demonstration flight at Redstone Army Airfield in Alabama. Photo by Paul Stevenson / Program Executive Office, Aviation
By
Ross Wilkers
The protest window is now closed, for good, which clears the way for work to start at the Army's Redstone Test Center.
The Army has finalized its award of a five-year, $910 million contract for test and engineering services to a joint venture of Astrion and AI Signal Research.
Joint Technical Solutions will work with the Army's Redstone Test Center in areas such as missile and aviation to ensure the safety of new combat weapon system capabilities, Astrion said Thursday.
RTC is home to developmental testing, independent evaluations, assessments, and experiments of Army aviation, missiles and sensor equipment. The center is a tenant organization in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama and reports up to the Army Test and Evaluation Command.
This is actually the second time that JTS has been awarded the contract, but now is for keeps.
Systems Application & Technologies challenged the Army's choice of JTS in the spring of 2023, but that protest was dismissed after the service branch agreed to reconsider the bids.
The Army awarded the contract to JTS again on Feb. 7, but Astrion's announcement indicates the protest period has lapsed so JTS can proceed on the work.
Astrion is owned by the private equity firm Brightstar Capital Partners, which formed the company in December through the combination of ERC and Oasis Systems.