ATCO Ltd. wins $596M, 10-year Alaska Radar System O&M award
ATCO Ltd. awarded Alaska Radar System operations contract
A joint venture led by ATCO Frontec and ASRC Federal will deliver operations and maintenance for the Alaska Radar System under a roughly $596 million agreement that runs a decade and begins in September 2026. The award covers sustainment activities across 15 long-range radar sites, two radio sites, and support facilities at the system headquarters.
Contract scope includes continuous operational support, site services, logistics and facility upkeep tailored for harsh Arctic conditions; those duties extend to lifecycle maintenance and on-site sustainment work. The turning of this contract into day-to-day activity will require established cold-climate supply chains, rotational technical crews and a logistics pipeline able to feed remote locations through seasonal access windows.
ATCO brings prior Arctic systems experience through parallel work on the North Warning System and other remote infrastructure programs, while ASRC Federal contributes long-standing federal operations capability and Alaska-based workforce channels. Together the partners position ARCTEC Alaska as a single-source integrator responsible for preserving radar uptime and interoperability with continental aerospace defense networks.
For the U.S. Air Force, the award secures a decade of managed coverage for a sensor layer that underpins northern air-domain awareness and civil aviation safety across high-latitude flight corridors. The arrangement reduces near-term contracting churn but raises procurement concentration for sustainment work in the Arctic, concentrating capability in a small number of experienced providers.
Read Our Expert Analysis
Create an account or login for free to unlock our expert analysis and key takeaways for this development.
By continuing, you agree to receive marketing communications and our weekly newsletter. You can opt-out at any time.
Recommended for you
Pomerleau-Led Consortium Secures Canada Arctic OTH Radar Validation Phase
A Pomerleau-led consortium with Aecon and Stantec begins a validation phase for Canada’s Arctic over-the-horizon radar in Q1 2026 using an Integrated Project Delivery approach. The award aligns with a broader North American trend toward bundling sensor capability with sustained site infrastructure and single-source sustainment arrangements — illustrated by a recent U.S. operations award for Alaska radar sites — which concentrates technical and logistics demand in a small set of specialist providers.
ATCO takes 40% stake in West Kitikmeot to kickstart Grays Bay port-road build
ATCO is committing about $10 million for a 40% ownership stake in West Kitikmeot Resources to advance the Grays Bay Road and Port Project. Concurrently, West Kitikmeot has lodged an 11-volume, >5,000-page Impact Statement with the Nunavut review authority, moving the proposal into formal regulatory assessment and shortening near-term permitting risk.
Larus Technologies wins $8.3M DND IDEaS award to field MAABI
Larus Technologies secured a $8.3M IDEaS Test Drive award to advance MAABI for tactical decision support with the Canadian Army. The contract funds AI/ML integration into ISR-led planning and will move MAABI into allied training events.
MDA Space awarded CAD 32M DND contract for three ground optical stations
MDA Space has won an approximately CAD 32 million Defence Investment Agency contract to design, deliver and sustain three ground-based optical observatories—to be sited in Alberta, Manitoba and New Brunswick—with formal delivery and in‑service support through 2028. The award is being announced as part of the Surveillance of Space 2 program at a March 18, 2026 public event hosted by Public Services and Procurement Canada, and comes alongside wider federal industrial measures and internal MDA reorganization to accelerate defence delivery.
Maritime Launch Services Wins 10-Year DND Lease at Spaceport Nova Scotia
Maritime Launch secured a decade-long Department of National Defence lease at Spaceport Nova Scotia, anchoring a $200M contract and guaranteed cash flow. The deal accelerates Canada’s domestic launch infrastructure, prioritizes defence access to orbit, and channels roughly 90% of rental spending into Canadian industry.
Reaction Dynamics wins Phase‑1 award under Canada’s Launch the North
Ottawa granted Reaction Dynamics a $8.3M Phase‑1 award to advance a containerized, rapidly deployable orbital launcher with a maiden flight targeted for 2028–2029 . The same multi‑track competition is also funding complementary payload development — notably a separate $5.5M award to Bubble Technology Industries for a compact neutron spectrometer — while parallel infrastructure and tenancy moves at Spaceport Nova Scotia create a near‑term demand signal for domestic lift providers.
Anduril wins U.S. Army enterprise contract worth up to $20B
The U.S. Army awarded Anduril a 10-year enterprise agreement that could total $20B , consolidating more than 120 prior buys and packaging hardware, software, infrastructure and services. The award arrives as Anduril pursues capability expansion — including the reported acquisition of ExoAnalytic Solutions and discussions of a large private financing — and mirrors a broader Army trend of decade-long commercial enterprise vehicles (see a separate Salesforce IDIQ with a $5.6B ceiling).
Colt Canada awarded CMAR contract to equip Canadian Armed Forces
The Defence Investment Agency has contracted Colt Canada to supply up to 65,402 modular rifles under the CMAR program, with an initial tranche of 30,000 rifles worth about $307M. The award is embedded in a broader Ottawa push—announced around a March 9 industrial‑strategy rollout—that pairs procurement volume with capital and technical support (CDIR, NRC) to accelerate on‑shore production and ammunition lines while raising domestic‑content expectations.