ULA gets $860 million contract modification for expendable launch vehicle

[ethan829]

It was a formality.

I understand that the Block Buy and ELC are technically independent, but ELC payments are scheduled to end in 2019 with the conclusion of the Block Buy missions.

In her testimony, James said the contract currently is scheduled to end in 2019 after ULA carries out the final launch covered under an $11 billion sole-source block buy agreement with the Air Force.

http://spacenews.com/u-s-air-force-looks-at-ending-ulas-launch-capability-payment/

[baldusi]

It was a formality.

I understand that the Block Buy and ELC are technically independent, but ELC payments are scheduled to end in 2019 with the conclusion of the Block Buy missions.

AS I understand it, Block Buy is made within the frameworks that includes the ELC. Once DoD pays them separately for infrastructure (ELC) and incremental launch, if they commit to a certain number of cores, they can get lower prices by doing bulk orders on suppliers.
So, you could have a Block But without ELC, but in this particular contract it most probably depends on the ELC.

[TrevorMonty]

If DOD want D4H as an  option till Vulcan is ready to replace it in early 2020s, they will need to pay ULA to keep it.