This month there was a significant amount of year-end contract activity in the GovCon marketplace. Foreign nations announced their intent to purchase military vehicles and the commencement of bidding competitions, several contractors were awarded significant contracts to support the U.S. Armed Forces, existing contract vehicles were augmented, and more. Let™s take a look at some of the activity that took place over the course of December:

• Lockheed Martin securing a $7B F-22 sustainment IDIQ
• General Dynamics Land Systems receiving a $2.6B contract to modernize Abrams tanks for the Army
• India announced its intent to purchase $2B worth of General Atomics UAVs
• Lockheed Martin secured a $961M USAF contract for Sniper ATPs
• Germany announced the commencement of the competition to replace its CH-53G fleet
• Pratt & Whitney won a potential $6.7B aircraft engine sustainment IDIQ
• BAE Systems closed a potential $6.69B deal to supply Qatar with fighter jets
• The GSA added 80 small business awardees to the $15B Alliant 2 GWAC

Lockheed Martin announced on December 21^st that it secured a potential five-year, $7 billion ID/IQ contract to sustain the U.S. Air Force™s fleet of F-22 fighter jets. Lockheed™s aeronautics business unit will perform work at various locations within and outside the continental U.S. including USAF and joint bases in multiple U.S. states. The sole-source contract has a base ordering period of five years and work may extend through December 2027.

On December 21^st General Dynamics Land Systems announced that it received a potential three-year, $2.63 billion contract to modernize the U.S. Army™s fleet of M1A1 Abrams tanks. GDLS will convert nearly 800 M1A1 configured vehicles into the new M1A2 System Enhancement Package Version 3 configuration. GDLS will also be upgrading M1A1 vehicles to M1A2S andM1A2-K models.

Also on December 21^st India announced its intent to purchase General Atomics-built unmanned aerial systems designed for maritime surveillance for approximately $2 billion in a government-to-government deal with the United States. A Business Standard report provided details on the deal, which outlines India™s plan to purchase 22 units of unarmed Sea Guardian UAS. The Sea Guardian is a naval variant of the Predator B platform. The U.S. and Indian governments said in a joint statement that the sale of Sea Guardians will bolster India™s maritime capabilities and expand bilateral maritime security cooperation.

Also on December 20^th Lockheed Martin announced that it had secured a potential five-year, $961 million contract to perform upgrades and sustainment services for the U.S. Air Force™s SniperAdvanced Targeting Pods. The Sniper ATP detects and tracks long-range small tactical targets and can perform air-to-air and air-to-ground targeting functions. The ID/IQ contract covers 683 Sniper pods, spares, sensor and software updates, logistics support and other services. Paul Lemmo, vice president of fire control/special operations forces contractor logistics support services at Lockheed™s missiles and fire control business, said the company is proud to continue its partnership and support the service branch™s operations through the delivery of targeting technology platforms.

On December 15^th General Volker Wieker, chief of staff of the German Bundeswehr, signeda document signaling the start of the competition for a potential $4.72 billion contract to purchase 45-60 heavy-lift helicopters to replace the nation™s current fleet of CH-53G aircraft. Germany has not decided on a specific preferred aircraft model. Lockheed Martin plans to proposeSikorsky™s CH-53K helicopter, while Boeing plans to offer its CH-47 twin-rotor aircraft. Germany™s defense ministry plans to release an RFI by the second half of 2018 upon the completion of a fleet capability study. Furthermore, Germany plans to award the contract by mid-2020, with a plan to start initial deliveries by 2023.

The U.S. Air Force awarded a potential eight-year, $6.7 billion ID/IQ contract to sustain F119 aircraftengines to Pratt & Whitney on December 14^th.  The United Technologies subsidiary will perform contract work through December 2025 under the sole-source contract. The F119 turbofan engines power the USAF™s fleet of F-22 Raptor fighter jets. Work will take place at Air Force bases in Alaska, California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas and Florida.

BAE Systems announced on December 10^th that it had secured a potential $6.69 billion contract to supply the Qatari air force with 24 Eurofighter Typhoon multirole fighter jets. BAE said that it expects to begin deliveries in late 2022 and will provide in-service support and initial training as a prime contractor. BAE Systems, long with Airbus Group™s defense and space business segment and Leonardo™s aircraft unit, will manufacture the Typhoon jets. Charles Woodburn, chief executive of BAE, said œwe are delighted to begin a new chapter in the development of a long-term relationship with the State of Qatar and the Qatar Armed Forces, we look forward to working alongside our customer as they continue to develop their military capability.

On December 7^th the GSA awarded 80 companies with positions on the small business track of a potential 10-year, $15 billion governmentwide acquisition contract vehicle for IT platforms and services. The GSA posted a list of the winners on the Alliant 2 Small Business GWAC in a pre-award notice on FedBizOpps. The Alliant 2 SB has a base period of five years and has five option years. The minimum contract guarantee for each contractor is set at $2,500. The award came nearly a month after GSA selected 61 companies for the potential 10-year, $50 billion unrestricted portion of Alliant 2.