BAE wins Air Force contract totaling $37 million

The U.S. Air Force has awarded BAE Systems a three-year contract to provide obsolescence management support for a number of complex systems and platforms, including aircraft, vehicles, machines, and electronics, the Arlington, VA-based company announced March 9. The initial award is valued at $3 million with the total value of the three-year contract estimated at $37 million.

To help manage obsolete parts, BAE Systems’ experts will use the company’s Advanced Component Obsolescence Management (AVCOM) tool. The web-enabled system helps users forecast when a part will become obsolete or too expensive, then finds suitable replacements from across the marketplace.

“In addition to supporting mission readiness, AVCOM delivers significant savings for the total cost of a system or platform by efficiently resolving difficult part obsolescence issues and providing advanced planning capabilities for managing the full life-cycle needs of a product,” said DeEtte Gray, president of BAE Systems’ Intelligence & Security sector.

AVCOM has been used to support a number of Air Force programs with obsolescence management since 1991. In the last seven years, the programs that AVCOM supports have routinely been awarded the industry’s Diminishing Manufacturing Sources and Material Shortages (DMSMS) highest honors. DMSMS monitoring is a necessary and integral part of system life-cycle management and AVCOM has been recognized as the Air Force’s ‘DMSMS Tool of Choice’ annually since 2001.

BAE Systems has held the obsolescence management contract with the U.S. Air Force’s Strategic Alternative Sourcing Program Office for five years. Work on the latest award will be performed at BAE Systems’ facilities in Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, and Utah, and will support U.S. Air Force operations worldwide.