Altus base to be site of landing equipment tests

Altus Air Force Base is one of two sites nationwide where a Virginia scientific, engineering and technology applications company is testing new instrument landing equipment to be installed at 95 U.S. Air Force bases worldwide.

Mclean, Va.-based Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) announced on Monday that the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker Air Force Base has awarded the company a five-year, $22 million contract, including a one-year base period and — based on performance — four, one-year options renewable in August every year.

The logistics center at Tinker provides depot maintenance, management expertise, installation services and information support for weapon systems, commands, U.S. Air Force bases and allied nations.

SAIC recently completed tests on equipment at Langley Air Force Base in Virginia and, by late next month, will begin testing different configurations at Altus AFB, said Paul Rohen, SAIC vice president and division manager.

Replacing equipment

Globally, SAIC will replace 30-year equipment that is 6-foot-tall-by-5foot-wide-by-3-foot deep with new equipment, a quarter of the size, Rohen said. Though streamlined, the instrumentation technology remains much the same, he said, from guiding pilots up and down and left to right on their 3degree landings into airports.

The update, however, will enable remote maintenance and monitoring, Rohen said. If hardware maintenance can’t be done remotely, problems can be diagnosed, he said, and technicians dispatched.

This year’s SAIC contract is worth $6.1 million, according to SAIC.

Tinker officials on Monday confirmed the contract. The Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center employs more than 14,000 civilians and military personnel, a spokesman said.

Its fiscal year ending Jan. 31, SAIC had annual revenues of about $11 billion, officials said.