Lockheed Martin and ITT Corp. announced Oct. 11 an alliance to compete for the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation GPS system.

Under their agreement, the companies will extend an existing partnership on the U.S. government’s Block-2R and 2R-M series satellites for the competition for the GPS Block-3 system. Lockheed Martin serves as prime contractor and spacecraft integrator for the current contract, while ITT provides the payloads.

The Air Force is scheduled to award a multi-billion-dollar development contract for Block 3 in 2007.