Air Force Plans $10 Billion GPS III Contest Amid Lockheed Delays
- Troubles with first 10 satellites blamed on subcontractor woes
- Boeing and Northrop both offered ‘demo of a working payload’
GPS III SV02
Source: Lockheed Martin
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The Air Force will hold a $10 billion contest for as many as 22 new Global Positioning System satellites that’s likely to pit Lockheed Martin Corp. -- which is years behind schedule on the ones it’s already building -- against Boeing Co. and possibly Northrop Grumman Corp.
A request for proposals on the GPS III satellites will be issued “in the very near future,” pending its review by the Pentagon’s Joint Staff, Lieutenant General John Thompson, head of the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, told reporters Thursday.