L3 Communications Integrated Systems, Greenville, Texas, was awarded an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract in the amount of $3,000,000,000 (maximum ceiling value) in support of Armed Overwatch. Research, development, test, and evaluation; and procurement funds in the amount of $170,000,000 were obligated at time of the award. Armed Overwatch will provide Special Operations Forces deployable, affordable, and sustainable crewed aircraft systems fulfilling close air support, precision strike, and armed intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, requirements in austere and permissive environments for use in irregular warfare operations in support of the National Defense Strategy.
The contract will be a mixture of firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, time and materials, and cost reimbursement no-fee for the procurement of up to 75 aircraft, training systems, mission planning systems, support equipment, spares, and logistics support, with a period of performance from July 2022 to July 2029, including all options. The majority of the work will be done in Greenville, Texas. This action is a follow-on production contract in accordance with 10 U.S. Code 4022(f) authorized or required by statute. U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, is the contracting activity.
Sky Warden is based on the rugged and capable Air Tractor AT-802, which features the largest payload capacity of any single engine turboprop aircraft. It hosts L3Harris’ world-class family of communications, sensors and airborne ISR solutions. The platform is backed by the company’s extensive turnkey ISR operation experience. Sky Warden’s name commemorates two best-in-class, multi-mission special operations combat platforms. It merges the deep history of the Vietnam era A-1E Sky Raider with the present-day U-28, which uses the callsign “Warden” during combat operations. Sky Warden combines their heritage and capabilities to collapse the stack, providing one aircraft capable of multiple mission roles.
L3Harris Technologies and Air Tractor have teamed to produce the AT-802U Sky Warden, an affordable, production-ready aircraft designed for airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) and other missions in extreme combat environments. The multi-mission platform provides the operator agility and flexibility to identify, track and react to counter threats. It is also capable of takeoff and landing on unimproved airstrips allowing the aircraft to be deployed and co-located with special mission operators. Air Tractor delivered its 4,000th aircraft in March 2021 and has manufactured aircraft for 46 years. L3Harris Technologies is an agile global aerospace and defense technology innovator, delivering end-to-end solutions that meet customers’ mission-critical needs.