DataLink

Signal, Jun 1999

SAIC Leads Small Business Team-A Science Applications International Corporation, Washington, D.C., 20-member team will provide systems architecture, engineering, integration and design; pre-installation testing; onboard and on-site testing; program engineering and acquisition; and life-cycle support for the U.S. Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command's (SPAWAR's) chief engineer's office and the SPAWAR program directorates. The Federal Systems Integration and Management Center, General Services Administration's Federal Technology Service awarded the task order valued at approximately $197 million over three years. More than half of the SAIC team is small businesses.

INS Offices Connect-A new technology infrastructure will link 800 Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) offices in the United States, its territories and selected overseas locations. Computer Sciences Corporation's (CSC's) civil group, Falls Church, Virginia, will support the $8 million one-year modernization effort. The company will assist in deploying a uniform technology infrastructure for the agency's enforcement systems program. The effort is part of a transition from a centralized mainframe architecture to distributed, open and interoperable client-server platforms that allow transparent access to data anywhere within INS. Teaming with CSC are Performance Engineering Corporation, Oracle Corporation, Q Systems Incorporated, Systems Analytics Incorporated, AQUAS Incorporated, WordPro Incorporated, American Electronics Incorporated, HAZMED, and Statistica.

Agency Develops Information Infrastructure-The Environmental Protection Agency has selected SRA International Incorporated, Fairfax, Virginia, to provide advisory and assistance services for the agency's information technology infrastructure and architecture. The estimated value of the contract is $124 million. SRA team members include Alphatech, The Marasco Newton Group, McDonald Bradley, Ross & Associates, SOZA, TPMC and Troy Systems.

Weather Observation-Approach Navigation Systems Incorporated, Moncton, New Brunswick, has signed a license agreement with Systems Management Incorporated, Hunt Valley, Maryland, to manufacture and sell a Canadian version of the NEXWOS automated weather observation system. Approach Navigation Systems offers multilingual technical and consulting services to the aviation community.

Centre of Excellence-The United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Thomson-CSF, Paris, have signed a memorandum of understanding to establish a training center to help that country develop expertise in the electronics field. The UAE's Centre of Excellence for Applied Research and Training (CERT) and Thomson will create a center to be known as the CERT-Thomson Institute to provide education and training using stateof-the-art technologies and management methods. Long courses in three main domains are planned: multimedia documentation, software engineering and telecommunications. Thomson and UAE will equally share the $8 million cost of the project. Initial capacity of the institute is expected to be 300 students per year, and classes are to begin next September.

Air Force Consolidates Licenses-The U.S. Air Force estimates that it will save approximately $140 million over three years as a result of a leased network license of Oracle software for the service's integrated logistics community. A network license enables every user of a program within an organization to access and use the software. The network license will enable the Air Force to consolidate previous licensing agreements, reduce administrative costs and purchase software in volume. Logicon Incorporated, Herndon, Virginia, received the delivery order under the Defense Department's integrated computer-aided software engineering program. The initial payment by the government will be $5.1 million, and the order has a potential value of up to $52 million if all options are exercised.

Computers for Nuclear Commission-Twenty-eight full-time employees of Force 3 Incorporated, Crofton, Maryland, will work on site at the Rockville, Maryland, offices of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Under a one-year, $1.3 million contract, Force 3 will be standardizing workstation configurations and updating and replacing existing microcomputer and workstation hardware. They will also perform system maintenance on 4,200 personal computers and workstations within the agency. The total contract value is estimated to be $2.8 million through October of 2000. Avionics Systems-The U.S. Air Force is purchasing $50 million of additional avionics equipment for use in the Pacer CRAG program. The equipment will be used to retrofit 550 KC-135 tanker aircraft. The program uses commercial avionics technology adapted to military applications. This purchase is the service's fourth production option awarded to prime contractor Rockwell Collins, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for the Pacer CRAG avionics upgrade. Rockwell Collins is integrating and supplying a total of 88 shipsets of hardware and is assisting with installation at nine domestic bases. Fifty KC-135 aircraft have already been outfitted with the avionics systems since 1998.