Under Contract

• General Atomics has been awarded a $21.1 million addition to a previous contract with the Defense Department for Predator Mission Aircrew Training Systems (PMATS). The system is a “highly sophisticated flight simulator,” the company says, that recreates the experience of flying Predator drones. “With PMATS, the level of realism between simulated exercises and real-world operations is virtually transparent,” General Atomics says on its website. 

• The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is investing up to $10.4 million on research from OraSure Technologies, a pharmaceutical company that specializes in making diagnostic test kits. The agency is seeking research and development of “medical countermeasures for chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear agents that threaten the U.S. civilian population” — including vaccines, anti-toxins and therapeutic drugs, antimicrobial medications and clinical diagnostic tools, according to contract documents. HHS hopes the research could lead to approval of these “countermeasures” by the Food and Drug Administration. Other contracts are likely to follow, it said. 

{mosads}• The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) contracted with Datastrong LLC to create two sets of data visualizations for the agency. The contract is worth $42,410. One project will focus on “creating a visual narrative … to help tell a better story of who we are as an agency, what we do and why it matters,” according to contract documents. “The NEA seeks to create a visual means of communicating our big-picture story, punctuated by deep-dive looks at selected aspects of that story to reinforce specific points and messaging. This is important not only for reaching mass audiences, but also for driving home points to policymakers.”  The agency has long faced Republican scrutiny about its funding.

• The Department of Agriculture ordered $350,000 worth of non-lead, non-steel shotgun ammunition to be used for “the aerial removal of hogs,” the department says. It’s requesting a total of 100,000 rounds for Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service offices in Texas, Tennessee and Oklahoma. A2Z Supply Corp. won the contract.

• The Defense Logistics Agency awarded a contract worth as much as $11.8 million to GlaxoSmithKline to provide flu vaccinations for the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps and federal civilian agencies for one year. 

Contract information compiled from General Services Administration data and government press releases. Send announcements about government contracts to mwilson@digital-staging.thehill.com.