Motorola bags 5-year US Army contract capped at $495 million

The US Army awarded Motorola Solutions (MSI) a five-year IDIQ contract capped at $495 million to upgrade its global mission-critical communications network. IDIQ stands for “indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity.” Under the deal, Motorola will provide the Army with Land Mobile Radio (LMR) P25 subscriber unit radios, accessories, warranty, along with ancillary services such as installation, programming, training, and maintenance.

This contract win makes Motorola Solutions one among the five vendors pledged to update the Army’s communications. The upgrades include using the P25 standard of interoperability between devices, and security and reliability enhancements.

VP and GM of US Federal Government Markets for MSI, Mark McNulty said, “The US Army’s continued investment in LMR demonstrates the essential role this technology plays in supporting reliable mission-critical communications to improve the safety and protection of people all over the world.”

“The Army sees LMR and the P25 standard as the best approach to create a system of interoperability across multiple technologies on a massive scale,” he added.

P25, or Project 25, is a set of standards developed for digital voice and data communication systems expressively for public safety and first responders. The Association of Public Safety Communications Officials, or APCO, initiated this project.

Lockheed’s Navy contract gets a lift

On Monday, the US Navy awarded Lockheed Martin Corp (LMT) a $450.7 million contract to tweak a previously awarded one. This deal involved the support for construction of four Multi-Mission Surface Combatant ships, in a contract involving Foreign Military Sales to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Motorola wins in Germany

Motorola Solutions recently won a patent infringement lawsuit against German-based Hytera Mobilfunk, a unit of Hytera Communications. The dispute involved the technology that aided in cutting the noise of transmission in car radios and two-way handheld radios, improving their usability.

German regional Mannheim Court granted Motorola an injunction against Hytera, preventing the German firm from selling, using, importing or distributing products that infringe MSI patents in Germany. Hytera was further ordered to recall and destroy infringing products.