BAE Systems receives $325.5 million contract for work to be done in Iowa

The U.S. Defense Logistics Agency awarded BAE Systems a $325.5 million contract for work to be done in Cedar Rapids and Coralville, BAE Systems said Tuesday morning.

Under the contract, the United Kingdom-based company will produce M-Code Global Positioning System units that will “that will provide reliable and secure positioning, navigation and timing data with anti-jamming and anti-spoofing capabilities,” according to a news release.

“Our state-of-the-art GPS technology works with the advanced military M-Code signal to provide reliable information to the warfighters who depend on it,” said Greg Wild, BAE Systems’ director of navigation and sensor systems, in the news release.

“This contract will ensure the availability of M-Code module inventory to build advanced, next-generation GPS receivers.”

Company spokesman Mark Daly said 100 percent of the work will be done in Cedar Rapids or Coralville. The company temporarily is using space from Collins Aerospace until its new classified aerospace defense facility at 7825 Sixth St. SW in Cedar Rapids is complete in 2022.

The contract is in addition to a $247 million contract BAE Systems received from the U.S. Space Force in February for work on military GPS technology.

Daly said Tuesday’s contract is focused on technology that is being sold right away, whereas the February contract had to do with development of technology not yet ready to be sold.

BAE Systems acquired its military GPS business from Collins Aerospace in July 2020.

Federal antitrust regulators asked Collins Aerospace, the largest employer in Cedar Rapids, to divest the business unit in October 2019 as part of parent company United Technologies Corp.’s merger with Raytheon Co.

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