The ATCS award was part of $4.8 million approved for three defense projects in the 4th Congressional District and $126.7 million in defense appropriations awarded in Massachusetts, congressional leaders announced.

For MIKEL, which has provided the Navy with undersea warfare tracking solutions for the past nine years, it brought defense funding to $5.8 million during the past three years with another appropriation under consideration, said the firm’s president, Kelly Mendell.

“We’re in Phase II of a greatly improved submarine combat system,” Mendell said, “that will hopefully provide a lot of jobs in Massachusetts.”

She said those jobs as engineers, computer scientists and experienced program managers would pay from the $80,000 range into six figures. She encouraged qualified college graduates and others to apply through its location at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth Advanced Technology Manufacturing Center, 275 Martine St.

“We plan in the next 12 months to hire about 10 more people,” said Mendell, an industrial engineer raised in Westport who became MIKEL’s first employee when her father founded the company in Nevada.

Brian Guimond, originally from Fall River, set up MIKEL with Mendell in 2003 at the ATMC. After Guimond graduated from UMass Dartmouth, he became a science adviser for the Commander Submarine Force Pacific Fleet in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
MIKEL, with 22 employees, has doubled its staff from two years ago with a goal of reaching 50.

Its tactical control system, along with other technology, simplifies and clarifies undersea threats, enabling commanders to understand full environments and respond tactically, Mendell said.

That picture crystallizes “what to do at any given moment,” she said, such as whether a submarine should anticipate a maneuver, crash or whether to fire a weapon.

This spring, Congress awarded MIKEL a $3.2 million appropriation related to detecting threats.

“I think one of the things we’re bringing to the table is we provide results. … We’re providing technology that the Navy definitely needs,” Mendell said. She cited the research and development MIKEL performs.

“We’re very happy and grateful for the assistance we’ve received,” she said of their funding.

Within a month the company will ship its staff and data equipment — including sensors, undersea microphones and computer equipment — for at-seat trainings in Pearl Harbor.

 “I am pleased that my Senate colleagues and I were able to include funds in the defense bill to support MIKEL’s innovative underwater sensor technology, as well as the cutting-edge safety system developed by International Compliance,” U.S. Rep. Barney Frank said.

Along with MIKEL, the other SouthCoast communities receiving $1.6 million awards were International Compliance Systems in New Bedford for its combined mishap systems, and NULKA Decoy and Manufacturing in Marion for a decoy launch system.

The largest state defense awards were for two projects in Bourne, $20.5 million to expand the Massachusetts National Cemetery for veterans and $10 million for Massachusetts Maritime Academy training, and in Boston, $8 million to expand trauma/casualty care and rehabilitation services.

Sens. Edward Kennedy and John Kerry announced the award jointly with Frank.