Air Op Centers to outsource IT management

Air Force Operations Centers Sources Sources Sought Synopsis

The Air Force in June plans to solicit vendors to oversee systems engineering and integration in its Air Operations Centers, a contract that could be worth $1 billion, said service and industry officials and documents.

The Air Force operates 46 information systems in the command and control centers in which military personnel plan, manage and execute bomber, cargo, fighter and refueling aircraft missions. The service wants to award a lead systems integrator contract to connect the different systems and manage application and data growth in the facility.

The Air Force considers Air Operations Centers so important that in 2001 it categorized the command center a weapon system. The service's Electronic Systems Center, located at Hanscom Air Force Base, Mass., will oversee the procurement, said Air Force spokesman Chuck Paone.

The Air Force will likely award the lead systems integrator contract this fall, Paone said. He could not confirm the $1 billion figure

The Air Force learned from Iraq the importance of managing information and merging data systems, testified Gen. John Jumper, service chief of staff, on Feb. 10 to the Senate Armed Services Committee.