NATO said a Science Applications International Corp-Raytheon Co. [RTN] team has been selected over two competitors for a six-year, $95 million command and control missile defense system as well as an integrated test bed for the security of all 26 member countries.

It selected the multinational TEAM SAIC over bids led by Northrop Grumman [NOC] and The Boeing Co. [BA] for the Active Layered Theater Ballistic Missile Defense (ALTBMD) program. Most of the work will be done in the Netherlands.

The decision to move forward marks NATO’s conclusion that missile defense is feasible for Europe and desirable. The ALTBMD program will put in place an interoperable and integrated command/control center that is to provide individual member country’s missile defense assets to be used for the common protection of NATO and its territory.

It is working toward networking existing and future national weapon systems, sensors, battle management and command, control and communications systems into an integrated defense for the protection of alliance military forces and critical assets.

TEAM SAIC team will negotiate a firm fixed-price contract to develop and verify proposed ALTBMD architectures using an integration test bed that it will design and operate under the contract.

Through advanced architectures, modeling, simulation and extensive prototyping, Team SAIC will help the ALTBMD Program Office use NATO’s existing capability to create an effective and efficient air and missile defense system.

Team SAIC members come from six NATO nations and include Datamat SpA, Diehl BGT Defence GmbH & Co. KG, European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co. [EADS], Industrieanlagan-Betriebsgesellschaft mbH (IABG), QinetiQ, Raytheon, Thales, ThalesRaytheonSystems, and the Netherlands’ Organisation for Applied Scientive Research.

The companies came together last October to bid on the work.

Griffin In China

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin begins a trip to China this weekend, marking the first time a NASA administrator visits the country.

Griffin will speak with Laiyan Sun, administrator of the China National Space Administration, in a visit from Saturday to Thursday. It includes stops in Beijing and Shanghai, and tours of aerospace facilities.

“My goal is to become acquainted with my counterparts in China and to understand their goals for space exploration,” Griffin said.