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Air Force awards contract to Ball Aerospace to protect against cyber attacks

The $47.9 million contract is for research and development into systems that can identify and mitigate weaknesses against potential cyber attacks.

By James LaPorta
Teams of cyber protection experts undergo an exercise to validate their ability to locate, defend and counter attacks targeted toward critical infrastructure, systems or platforms. Photo by Airman 1st Class Daniel Garcia/U.S. Air Force
Teams of cyber protection experts undergo an exercise to validate their ability to locate, defend and counter attacks targeted toward critical infrastructure, systems or platforms. Photo by Airman 1st Class Daniel Garcia/U.S. Air Force

Nov. 16 (UPI) -- Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. has been awarded a modified contract for research and development to provide investigation and methodologies techniques to safeguard U.S. Air Force weapon systems from cyber attack.

The deal, announced Wednesday by U.S. Air Force officials, is worth $47.9 million, an increase of $41.5 million, for identifying weapon system vulnerabilities and anti-cyber attack systems.

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The contract is classified as a cost plus fixed fee, meaning, Ball Aerospace will be reimbursed by the U.S. government based upon a pre-negotiated sum at the inception of the contract.

Work on the contract will be performed at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, according to Pentagon officials, with an expected completion date of March 2023.

Under the previous contract, Ball Aerospace was awarded 74 percent of the $6.4 million dollar deal, or what equates to more than $4.7 million. According to InsideGov, a data visualization website that tracks U.S. defense contractors, Ball Aerospace has worked on 121 contracts, primarily for the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security, for a total profit of $27 million since fiscal year 2007.

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