Brussels, Sept 27: NATO has awarded a 15-million Euro contract to study options for an alliance anti-missile system to a US-led consortium of companies including a number of European firms, the alliance said today.
The transatlantic consortium is led by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), of McLean, Virginia, but also includes US Boeing, Germany's Diehl, France's EADS St, Germany's IABG, Dutch company TNO, US Raytheon, Italy's Alenia Spazio and France's Thales.
NATO assessed both the SAIC-led bid and one led by Lockheed-Martin as "very high quality" but said the SAIC bid represented "the best value to Nato".
The 19-member alliance called at a summit in Prague in November 2002 for a feasibility study on "options for protecting alliance territory, forces and population centres
against the full range of missile threats," said a statement.
"The feasibility study is intended to provide the alliance with a broad perspective on its missile defence options to facilitate consultations which may lead to future decisions on proceeding with such a system," it added.
Bureau Report
