ROCKVILLE, Md., Sept. 12 (UPI) -- Lockheed Martin reports the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has extended its contract to enhance transoceanic air traffic management.
The extension in support of the FAA's Advanced Technologies and Oceanic Procedures (ATOP) program has a one-year period of performance and seven one-year options.
If all options are exercised, the value of the extension would be more than $500 million.
"Through ATOP, Lockheed Martin and the FAA created a new system that modernized oceanic air traffic control systems, provided new tools for safer flights and reduced aircraft fuel burn and carbon emissions," said Sandy Samuel, vice president of Transportation Solutions for the company's Information Systems and Global Solutions business. "With this new extension, we're continuing our partnership with the FAA, sustaining ATOP and its family of systems into the future and continuing to deploy NextGen air traffic capabilities."
Lockheed has worked with the FAA on ATOP, which has been used for the past 12 years to enhance air traffic control over U.S. oceanic air space in the Atlantic and Pacific.
The contract extension will give the FAA with options for future enhancements to transoceanic air traffic management software and hardware. Among those options: deploying ATOP systems at FAA offshore facilities, and establishing an ATOP simulation and training system.
