The Defense Department (DoD) said on Nov. 27 that the U.S. Air Force awarded Raytheon Co. a $196 million change order modification to a previously awarded contract for the Pentagon’s development of its Global Positioning System (GPS) Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX).
The new contract award, DoD said, brings the total cumulative face value of the contract to $4.48 billion. Work under the new award is expected to be completed by November 2025. Heading the contracting activity is the Space Systems Command (SSC), which is a field command of the U.S. Space Force (SSC).
The OCX program is part of SSC’s GPS enterprise modernization effort, and Raytheon has been part of that work since at least 2010.
SSC describes OCX as the “future version of the GPS control segment.”
“OCX will command all modernized and legacy GPS satellites, manage all civil and military navigation signals, and provide improved cybersecurity and resilience for the next generation of GPS operations,” SSC said.
The OCX program has been on the receiving end of criticism in recent months for years-long delays. At a Nov. 4 Hudson Institute event, panelists said that Congress and DoD need to prioritize GPS modernization to address vulnerabilities and delays in developing improved GPS system resilience, and to keep pace with advancements being made by U.S. adversaries.
