L3Harris Interstate Electronics Corp. has been awarded a $46.85 million contract to provide services and support for flight test instrumentation systems used with the Trident II Strategic Weapon System, with a small share of the work to be carried out in Barrow-in-Furness, according to the US Department of War.
The notice, published on 1 October, states that the company “is being awarded a $46,850,128 cost-plus-incentive-fee and cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N0003027C2001) for services and support for flight test instrumentation systems for the Trident II Strategic Weapon System.” It adds that the contract “has optional line items which could increase the amount to $207,054,517, if exercised.”
Work is expected to run until 30 September 2031 and will be spread across seven sites. According to the notice, it “will be performed in Yorba Linda, California (55%); Cape Canaveral, Florida (30%); Washington, D.C. (7%); Groton, Connecticut (3%); Bremerton, Washington (2%); Kings Bay, Georgia (2%); and Barrow-in-Furness, United Kingdom (1%).”
Those locations map closely onto the US and British ballistic missile submarine programmes. Cape Canaveral is where Trident missiles are test fired at sea, while Groton is home to General Dynamics Electric Boat, prime contractor for the Columbia-class submarines that will replace the US Navy’s Ohio-class boats. Kings Bay and the Puget Sound region around Bremerton host the Ohio-class fleets on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts respectively. Barrow-in-Furness is where BAE Systems is building the Royal Navy’s four Dreadnought-class submarines, which will take over the UK’s nuclear deterrent from the Vanguard class in the 2030s.
On funding, the notice states that “no funding will be obligated on this contract at time of award, and no funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, as it is being awarded subject to the availability of funds in fiscal 2027.” It also records that the contract “was awarded as a sole source acquisition pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 3204 (a)(1) and was previously synopsized on the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) online portal.” That provision permits sole-source awards where only one responsible source can meet the requirement. Strategic Systems Programs in Washington, D.C., which manages the US Navy’s submarine-launched ballistic missile enterprise, is the contracting activity.
L3Harris Interstate Electronics has supported Trident flight test instrumentation for several decades. The US Navy is currently pursuing the D5LE2 life extension programme to keep the missile in service aboard Columbia-class submarines into the 2080s, and the UK has committed to taking part in that programme, which will also arm the Dreadnought class.
