PIM Contract Modification

The Army has awarded BAE Systems a $141.8 million contract modification for 18 Self-Propelled Howitzers and 18 tracked ammunition carriers as part of the Paladin Integrated Management system, according to a recent government notice.

The Oct. 31 Defense Department announcement states the full $141.8 million in fiscal year 2014 and FY-15 "other procurement funds" was obligated at the time of the award, with an estimated work completion date of Feb. 28, 2017. Approximately 18 percent of work will be performed in Elgin, OK, and the remaining 82 percent in York, PA, according to the notice.

BAE, the Army's contractor for PIM, first announced in October 2013 that it received a low-rate initial production contract for PIM that could be worth as much as $688 million.

The PIM program is intended as an upgrade to the Army's Paladin Self-Propelled Howitzer in ways that "buy back" space, weight and power that have been lost with age. PIMs are purchased in two vehicle sets -- the self-propelled howitzer and the tracked ammunition carrier.

LRIP began this year with a cost of $195 million for 18.5 vehicle sets -- 19 PIM howitzers and 18 tracked ammunition carriers, according to BAE. With the newest modification, the cumulative total of the contract is $386.7 million, the announcement states.

Full-rate production is expected to begin in 2017 with the service planning to purchase a total of 66.5 vehicle sets -- or 133 vehicles -- for a total contract value of $688 million.

The Army had once sought next-generation howitzers in the Crusader and the Future Combat Systems programs, but both efforts were ultimately canceled and billions of dollars were spent before the service threw all of its weight behind PIM.