L3 Subsidiary to Procure Aircraft for MDA’s High-Altitude Observatory Tech Modernization Program

The Missile Defense Agency has awarded a three-year, $73.2 million contract modification to an L3 Technologies business unit to procure aircraft that can accommodate an updated High Altitude Observatory system.

L3 Aeromet will help MDA buy and equip three used planes with the HALO platform under the modification, which increases the contract’s total potential value from $564.1 million to $637.4 million, the Defense Department said Friday .

MDA uses the technology on government-owned Gulfstream II-B aircraft to record electro-optic and infrared image data as part of Ballistic Missile Defense System assessments.

Work will take place in Tulsa, Okla., and could run through June 2021.