Lockheed Martin [LMT] said yesterday it dropped its protest of the Navy’s selection of Northrop Grumman [NOC] to provide the next generation ship-based tactical network, a move that allows the service to end a stop work order and get closer to production of the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) system.
Lockheed Martin formally challenged the initial $36.6 million award to Northrop Grumman by lodging a protest with the Government Accountability Office (GAO) Feb. 13, two weeks after the Navy announced Northrop Grumman had won the contract modification that could reach a total value of $638 million.
“During the past two weeks we have conducted detailed reviews of all the options and concluded continuing with the protest is not in the best interest of the Navy and, therefore, Lockheed Martin,” said Keith Little, a company spokesman. “To that end, we have withdrawn our protest now so the fleet can begin receiving this much-needed common computing system.”
The first installation of CANES, which is designed to eliminate multiple legacy information technology systems and streamline their functions into a common platform, has been pushed back until early 2013, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) said. The original plan called for placing it on Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) destroyer later this year.
SPAWAR spokesman Steven Davis confirmed the stop work order automatically triggered when a protest is filed with GAO has been lifted and Northrop Grumman can proceed on CANES.
“CANES will modernize the Navy’s information technology afloat and we are eager to move forward with our testing and installation plan,” Davis said.
The Navy plans to install CANES on more than 180 ships, submarines and Maritime Operations Centers by 2020. The next step will be conducting an operations assessment of the system ahead of a decision this summer on whether to move into limited production and subsequently begin installation on a handful of vessels, Davis said.
“We are confident in the source selection process and are working diligently to minimize any schedule impacts to the fleet,” Davis said. During the limited production phase, the Navy plans to hold a second competition next year for the full production run for the rest of the fleet based on Northrop Grumman’s winning design.
Northrop Grumman also welcomed Lockheed Martin’s decision to withdraw the protest.
“We are pleased this matter has been resolved, and look forward to working with the Navy on next steps to get this crucial system quickly fielded to the warfighters,” spokeswoman Sudi Bruni said.
CANES is a cornerstone of the Navy’s push to move toward more open architecture systems designed to allow for easier upgrades while lowering total ownership costs, and to quickly counter emerging cyber or security threats. CANES will in effect merge five stand-alone legacy networks for command, control, computers, communications, and intelligence (C4I) systems into a common shipboard computing environment.
The program is designed to strengthen network infrastructure, improve security, and reduce hardware space. It will also decrease the manpower burden by reducing operations and sustainment workloads through the use of common equipment, training and logistics.
The Navy awarded dueling development contracts to Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman in March 2010 while eliminating entries from Boeing [BA] and BAE Systems.