The Federal Aviation Administration has issued a request for solutions for companies to start working on and turning in their proposals to coordinate the creation of a new air traffic control system for managing U.S. airspace.
Bids for the “Brand New Air Traffic Control System” contract are due Sept. 21. The contract currently has no ceiling value, but much of the program’s initial funding will come from a $12.5 billion down payment allotted in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law in July.
The current cost estimate of the overhaul is estimated at $31.5 billion.
The FAA will pick a single prime integrator from the applicant pool, according to the final solicitation released last week.
The contract will involve a near-complete overhaul of the current setup of systems supported by patchwork updates over several decades. The integrator’s responsibilities will cover both the technical aspects of systems integration and managerial components, inclusive of subcontractor management and risk reduction.
The FAA estimates 74,000 pieces of equipment will be worked on.
The firm awarded the contract will have 3 ½ years to implement the new system over two phases.
The first phase involves acquiring new equipment and refreshing technology seeking to create a foundation for the overall modernization effort, including radar, software, hardware and telecommunications networks.
The next phase involves the modernization, integration and transformation of the services, systems and platforms that enable operations across the entire National Airspace System.
Photo by Moto “Club4AG” Miwa from USA, CC BY 2.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0, from Wikimedia Commons
