{"id":38553,"date":"2017-07-31T19:31:20","date_gmt":"2017-07-31T19:31:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2017\/07\/31\/raytheons-new-gps-ground-stations-delayed-again\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T23:07:39","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T23:07:39","slug":"raytheons-new-gps-ground-stations-delayed-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/space\/2017\/07\/31\/raytheons-new-gps-ground-stations-delayed-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Raytheon\u2019s new GPS ground stations delayed again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 The U.S. Air Force\u2019s OCX program, which will procure new ground control stations for the service\u2019s next-generation GPS satellites, has been delayed by another nine months, meaning the technology will not be ready until April 2022, the U.S. Air Force confirmed Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that delay comes additional cost. Last October, when the Pentagon certified the program would continue despite an increased cost of over 25 percent, it anticipated spending $5.4 billion during the development phase of the program. That figure has now increased to $6 billion, the U.S. Air Force stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to U.S. Air Force spokeswoman AnnMarie Annicelli, the service decided to extend the development phase of the program as a result of \u201crealized program technical risks,\u201d including \u201chardware and software obsolescence refreshes.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe OCX program has been a troubled program from the beginning. We are placing a lot of pressure on the contractor, and expect Raytheon to do the job they are contracted to perform,\u201d she said in a statement to Defense News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

News of the cost increase and schedule delays were first reported by Bloomberg News<\/a> early on Monday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The operational control segment, or OCX, will consist of ground control stations that enable civil and military use of the U.S. Air Force\u2019s new GPS III satellites and protect it from hacking and jamming. Development of the OCX capability was estimated to cost $3.5 billion when the program started in 2007. However, costs ballooned \u2014 in part, due to Raytheon\u2019s difficulty keeping OCX protected from ever-changing cyber threats \u2014 and the program hit a Nunn-McCurdy breach in June 2016, triggering a review of the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\t