Satellite communications provider Viasat has announced a collaboration with the U.S. Air Force’s Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), under a new contract valued at up to $900 million. The Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract, known as LCMC XA IDIQ, will see Viasat working on integrating technologies and capabilities.
The multi-award contract tasks Viasat with prototyping, testing, and delivering systems, hardware, software, and cybersecurity solutions. These efforts aim to provide integrated, multi-domain capabilities for the USAF. Viasat’s involvement is expected to significantly accelerate the technology integration process across the Air Force over an initial five-year period, with the possibility of extending for an additional five years.
Viasat has been chosen for three categories under the contract. These include ‘Development Planning’ to transition technology from laboratory to operational use, ‘Systems Development’ for integrating emerging systems into existing platforms and operational testing, and ‘Synthetic Environment Development’ for creating advanced simulations for operational assessments.
The Air Force contract marks one of the first major DoD IDIQ contracts awarded to Viasat following its acquisition of Inmarsat in May 2023. Incidentally, the merged entity now operates a fleet of 18 satellites, with 10 more under development.
[Image courtesy: AFLCMC]