The U.S. Army intends to select one vendor for its planned purchase of 193,279 Rifleman Radios when it awards a contract in fiscal year 2014, Nextgov reported Monday.
Bob Brewin writes the Army wants to hold a full-and-open pr0duction contract for the five-year Rifleman program and potential competitors could include General Dynamics,  Harris Corp. ITT Exelis and Thales.
General Dynamics and Thales have supplied 19,327 Rifleman Radios to the Army under low-rate initial production orders for the Joint Tactical Radio System, Brewin reports.
Industry sources told Nextgov the Rifleman Radio production contract could be worth multiples of $100 million.
The Army also plans to hold a follow-on competition for a next-generation radio within three-to-five years, according to Nextgov.
