The Air Force has awarded a $1.7 billion contract to Lockheed Martin to provide mission qualification training and associated hardware and software for special operations forces and combat search and rescue crews. The contract falls under the Aircrew Training and Rehearsal Support II program. It’s a repeat win for Lockheed since it held the previous ATARS contract.
The Air Force plans to start buying thousands of advanced new handheld radios in 2027 for downed aircrew to communicate with search-and-rescue forces, a capability spotlighted earlier this year during the recovery of two aviators shot down in Iran.