The U.S. Army has awarded two Other Transaction Authority contracts under its NorthStar mounted PNT program, selecting IS4S and GPS Source to develop next-generation Assured PNT capability for Army 2040 ground-based platforms.
Issued through Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground via a C5 prototyping project, the awards carry a combined estimated value of up to $41 million over a 36-month period of performance. Both vendors will develop MOSA-compliant, modular, and upgradable solutions emphasizing non-radio frequency technologies to address GPS-denied and -degraded environments.
PM PNT’s Modernization product office launched the NorthStar effort in August 2023 with a virtual industry day and request for information that drew 27 vendor responses. Those responses, along with technical evaluations and white paper reviews, shaped the program’s tiered capability structure and drove the decision to split the award between multiple vendors.
“Awarding to multiple vendors encourages competition, speeds up implementation and integration of new technology to meet emerging threats, and reduces cost of engineering change proposals,” said Erik Scott, product manager for PNT Modernization.
Contract kickoffs with both vendors are scheduled for next month, with design reviews and a soldier touchpoint to follow.
