ITT wins air traffic contract worth $1.8b

(Associated Press via NewsEdge) A team led by US-based defense company ITT won a government contract worth up to $1.8 billion to build the first portion of a new satellite-based air traffic control system.

The Federal Aviation Administration, which awarded the contract, said upgrading the system used to manage commercial and general aviation traffic will help reduce congestion on runways and in the skies, and reduce operating costs.

The full upgrade of the air traffic control system is expected to cost more than $15 billion and take nearly 20 years to build.

ITT, which beat out teams led by Lockheed Martin and Raytheon, will receive $207 million for the first three years of its contract, which could take an additional 15 years to complete.

Vincent Capezzuto, director of FAA's surveillance and broadcast services, said the ITT proposal presented the 'best value "&brkbar; with no technical risks.' ITT's team includes AT&T, SAIC and others.

Still, the government's decision has its detractors and the FAA has experienced some high-profile technical breakdowns this year.

Patrick Forrey, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, said outsourcing such critical surveillance and navigation systems is 'risky at best.'

A demonstration project in Anchorage, Alaska, uses both radar and satellite-based systems and has drawn on controllers' experiences since it started in 2000.

Now that the FAA has made its technology selection, controllers will have future opportunities to provide input, agency officials said.

The contract is expected to be completed by 2013 in two phases.