The Navy has instructed Northrop Grumman [NOC] to halt work on its next generation ship-based tactical network pending the outcome of a protest filed by Lockheed Martin [LMT] with the Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Steven Davis, a spokesman for the Navy’s Space and Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR), confirmed recently that work will not continue until the case is resolved under the bid statute that guides GAO protests.
SPAWAR selected Northrop Grumman Feb. 1 for the initial run on the Consolidated Afloat Networks and Enterprise Services (CANES) under a contract that could reach a value of $638 million if all options are exercised.
GAO plans to rule on Lockheed Martin’s protest by May 23. Lockheed Martin filed the protest recently, saying there were flaws in the evaluation of the proposals that deprived the Navy of the best solution.
“We look forward to our protest being fairly evaluated and having an opportunity to provide the most affordable and capable solution to meet the critical ship computing needs of the Navy,” said Alex Wildfong, a company spokeswoman.
Northrop Grumman said it was confident its CANES offering was the best option for the Navy.
“We stand ready to help the Navy get this critical system quickly to the warfighters,” spokeswoman Sudi Bruni said. “We are disappointed a protest was filed and have no further command at this time.”
The CANES program is designed to eliminate multiple legacy information technology systems and integrate their functions into a common platform. The first installation of CANES was planned for an Arleigh Burke-class (DDG-51) destroyer later this year before extending it to other surface ships. It was unclear whether the protest will disrupt that timeframe.
The contract calls for Northrop Grumman to provide systems to Navy ships in during the 2012 and 2013 fiscal years on a limited production basis. During the limited production phase, the Navy plans to hold a second competition for the full production run for the rest of the fleet based on the winning design.
CANES is a cornerstone of the Navy’s push to move toward more OA systems, and will effectively 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.