L-3 Communications [LLL] yesterday said that it has received a contract potentially worth over $100 million from Bollinger Shipyards to provide the C4ISR system for the Coast Guard’s Sentinel-class Fast Response Cutters (FRC).
L-3 said the contract win is “strategic.” Under the original Deepwater contract between the Coast Guard and Integrated Coast Guard Systems(ICGS), which is a joint venture between Lockheed Martin [LMT] and Northrop Grumman [NOC], awarded in 2002, Lockheed Martin was responsible for designing and delivering all of the C4ISR systems. However, in 2007 the Coast Guard began phasing ICGS out of Deepwater and said that in future procurements such as the FRC that work on the C4ISR systems would be competed (Defense Daily, Dec. 18, 2007).
A Coast Guard spokeswoman said that the service will ensure C4ISR interoperability between the FRC and Lockheed Martin supplied C4ISR systems on certain legacy assets and Deepwater platforms by using a common architecture.
“This has and will continue to be accomplished through a coordinated effort between the Coast Guard’s C4ISR Technical Authority, the sponsor’s office that generates C4ISR requirements, and the program office for C4ISR Acquisitions,” the spokeswoman said.
Bollinger won a potential $1.5 billion contract last September to build and deliver up to 34 154-foot FRCs beginning in 2011 (Defense Daily, Sept. 29, 2008). L-3 said its initial contract with Bollinger is for two years and includes design and delivery of the first production C4ISR ship set and related training.
“We’ve utilized best in class products including the integrated bridge and navigation control system from L-3 Marine Systems, alarms and announcing systems from L-3 Henschel, and our MarCom integrated and automated internal/external voice communications system,” Greg Roberts, president of L-3 Communications Systems-East, said in a statement.