The contract, awarded in June 2009, requires Cobham to provide hearing protection and increased speech intelligibility for vehicle crew members. The indefinite delivery/indefinite quantity contract was initially awarded by the Communications and Electronics Command Contracting Center and is worth no more than $2.4 billion.
Cobham is required to be able to deliver 500 units per month in the first year and 2, 000 per month in subsequent years. The system will also be able to improve command and control for on-board and external communications while increasing capabilities. Work on the contract was originally held up because a losing bidder filed a complaint with the Government Accountability Office. However, the GAO refused the protest and work may now proceed.
