EDO Corporation has been awarded a contract for a new generation of Marine Corps battlefield-communications equipment known as the Transition Switch Module.
The company has now received the signed contract that was announced by the Department of Defense on May 25. The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract has a maximum value of $240 million for the procurement of up to 476 units.
The contract was originally awarded to EDO in June 2004. However, a protest of the award was filed by a competitor, causing the Marine Corps to re-compete the contract. EDO was successful in the re-competition.
Work is expected to begin immediately, and be completed by May 2010. The company has been issued the first delivery order under the contract, for $5.2 million, to initiate the engineering and development phase.
The Transition Switch Module will provide digital voice, data, and video communications to deployed Marine units. It will dynamically allocate bandwidth to handle the demanding needs of net-centric warfare.
TSM will also be a key element in the Marine Corps’ transition from legacy tri-service tactical switches to current commercial technology. Another key element of this transition is the Joint Enhanced Core Communication System, or JECCS, which EDO is also producing for the Marine Corps.
JECCS provides a mobile telecommunications “central office”, mounted on a “Humvee”, and connects with Transition Switch Modules to give individual Marines full access to the communications network.
“EDO is aggressively seeking a larger role in battlefield communications,” said CEO James M. Smith. “The resolution of this contract allows us to demonstrate our expertise at implementing the Marine Corps’ network-communications strategy.”
TSM consists of three major components. The Deployable End Office Suite (DEOS) will provide voice-circuit switching and call-service-attendant capabilities. The Remote Subscriber Access Module (RSAM) will extend these telephone and data services to remote users.
The Deployable Integrated Transport Suite (DITS) will provide bandwidth management, multiplexing, data distribution, and technical control functions.
The DEOS, RSAM, and DITS will be integrated into transit cases for unit transport. The contract includes engineering design, production, testing, associated training, training devices, spares, field service, engineering/logistics services, and provisioning technical documentation.
