12 companies share $4.1B Army contract

Ten large businesses and two small businesses win spots on the Army's $4.1 billion contract to improve battlefield communications. Who has been picked to compete for satellite and transmission services?

A mix of 10 large and two small businesses are sharing a $4.1 billion contract award to supply the Army with communications and transmission services to help the service improve its battlefield communications.

The companies will compete with each other for task orders under the contract, known as Project Manager, Defense Communications and Army Transmission System, or PM DCATS. The contract will be used to tie together individual weapons systems via satellite communication and transmission capabilities, according to information from Centurion Research Solutions.

The 12 companies are:

  • L-3 National Security Solutions Inc., Reston, Va.
  • Globecomm Systems, Inc., Hauppauge, N.Y., (a small business winner)
  • Harris Corp., Melbourne, Fla.
  • General Dynamics One Source, Fairfax, Va.
  • DRS Technical Services Inc., Herndon, Va.
  • Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., McLean, Va.
  • Serco Inc., Reston, Va.
  • Computer Sciences Corp., Falls Church, Va.
  • Intelligent Decisions Inc., Ashburn, Va., (a small business winner)
  • Lockheed Martin Corp., Bethesda, Md.
  • AT&T Government Solutions Inc., Vienna, Va.
  • LGS Innovations LLC, McLeansville, N.C.

The Army Contracting Command out of Rock Island Arsenal in Illinois is the contracting activity for PM DCATS.

The goal of the contract is to enable battle space information dominance, according to Centurion Research Solutions.

"From the front lines to command headquarters, communications continues to play an expanding role in how the U.S. Army operates," said Robert Smith, vice president of space and cyber for Lockheed Martin Information Systems & Global Solutions.

The various systems to be tied together must operate seamlessly, and it should not be discernible where one system ends and another begins. The systems are interdependent, so the absence of one system may impact the ability to provide overall satellite communications.

The Army’s mission will be best met by the individual systems working together, according to Centurion Research Solutions.

The Army has been developing the contract since 2010, and released the request for proposals in 2012.

The Army received 24 bids on this contract.