About $2.86 billion that buys no equipment: keeping a test range running
An Air Force contract with JT4 LLC worth about $2.86 billion. What it buys is not equipment but the technical services that keep a test range working. It ends on 30 September 2026.
Contract key facts
- RecipientJT4 LLC
- Contract value$2,860,271,297 (≈$2.86B)
- BranchAir Force
- Awarding agencyDepartment of Defense
- Awarding sub-agencyDepartment of the Air Force
- Award typeDEFINITIVE CONTRACT
- Period of performance2018-04-16 〜 2026-09-30
- Contract ID (PIID)FA824018C7218
Contract scope (original)
JOINT RANGE TECHNICAL SERVICES (J-TECH II)
Key points
- Signed by the Department of the Air Force on 16 April 2018 for about $2.86 billion, ending 30 September 2026.
- The description names joint range technical services; the deliverable is work that keeps a test range operating, not equipment.
- Outlays stand at about $83.9 million, 2.94% of the amount obligated.
- JT4 LLC appears in only one of the 208 Defense Department contracts this site holds as of 2026-09-06.
1What is bought here is not equipment
This contract closes on the same 30 September 2026 as the previous article, yet its content is entirely different. The description names joint range technical services, so what is delivered is not an object but the work of keeping a test range running.
In an equipment contract the end date approximates the day the last article is handed over. In a services contract the end date is the length of the thing being bought. That is why cutting this kind of contract at a fiscal year boundary matters.
2A year boundary lines up with the money that pays for it
Services are commonly funded from annual operating accounts, so continuing across a year boundary requires the next year of money. Placing the ending on 30 September makes the decision to continue or stop fall where the funding decision falls. The 8.5-year span reads as successive annual extensions.
3The recipient appears only once
JT4 LLC appears in exactly one of the 208 defense contracts this site holds as of 2026-09-06. In a list where a handful of large names recur, a recipient with a single record does not catch the eye. Its value ranks 186th, low in any ordering by amount. Things that are not equipment, and things that do not repeat, are the hardest to see on a screen sorted by size.
The next article looks at a contract whose description is the single word RESERVED.
Why it matters
Defense spending covers not only equipment but the services that keep testing, maintenance and operations going. Contracts cut at a fiscal year boundary are a practical way to find that category.
FAQ
How does a services contract differ from an equipment contract?
Why do services contracts so often end at a fiscal year boundary?
Is a recipient with only one record unusual?
Sources (primary)
This article is an independent organization based on the U.S. official spending data below. Verify the exact, latest details with the official source.
- USAspending (award details)
- Contract ID (PIID)：FA824018C7218