In a contract announcement on Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Air Force announced a multiple-award contract with a ceiling of $20.9 billion for Air Force Training Systems. The contract is an indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract for the Training Systems Acquisition (TSA) III program and includes 25 companies ranging from top defense contractors to small businesses.

The contractors will provide for the analysis, design, development, production, installation, integration, test and sustainment for Air Force training systems encompassing complex aircrew, maintenance and system-specific training systems in support of warfighter training at operating locations worldwide. TSA III has a 10-year ordering period through August 2025.

Among the contractors included are Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), Computer Sciences Corp. (NYSE: CSC), L-3 Communications Corp. (NYSE: LLL), Lockheed Martin Corp. (NYSE: LMT), Northrop Grumman Corp. (NYSE: NOC) and Raytheon Co. (NYSE: RTN).

Each of the contractors will receive $1,000 at the time of the award for the 2015 fiscal year. Additional funding will be assigned on individual task orders.

This contract does not include a program to upgrade the Air Force’s training jet, the venerable T-38. Upgrading the fleet of training planes did not make the Air Force’s list of its top three projects. Those are the F-35A fighter plane from Lockheed Martin, the KC-46A tanker from Boeing and the Long-Range Strike Bomber (the B-3). A contract for 80 to 100 B-3s costing around $550 million each is expected soon. There are two competing bids for the B-3, a team led by Northrop Grumman and another led by Boeing and including Lockheed Martin.

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