Leidos nabs $150M contract to support Army anti-IED system

Leidos has won a $150 million contract to support the Army’s Saturn Arch effort to battle improvised explosive devices.

The Saturn Arch is an anti-IED platform that is used in Afghanistan. Its services were transferred from the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency to the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command in 2013, and it is now considered to be an enduring Army program, according to the Army’s website.

Over time, the Saturn Arch has become more of a general in-theater safety platform than solely an anti-IED platform. It now has the capability to not only detect airborne IED threats but also other hostile enemy action or intent, the Army said.

Under the contract, Leidos will provide operations, sustainment and integration of aircraft platforms configured to hose a suite of sensors deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, the Defense Department said in a release.

Work will be performed in Bridgewater, Va., Arlington, Va., McLean, Va., Beavercreek, Ohio, Hanahan, S.C., Afghanistan, Djibouti, Africa, and in various locations in California and Maryland, and is expected to be completed Sept. 16, 2015.