Lockheed Martin forms U.S. VISIT team
By
Nick Wakeman
Lockheed Martin Corp. plans to bid as prime contractor on the Homeland Security Department's $1.5 billion contract to build a system to track the comings and goings of foreign nationals.
Lockheed Martin Corp. plans to bid as the prime on the Homeland Security Department's $1.5 billion U.S. VISIT contract to build a system to track the comings and goings of foreign nationals.
The Bethesda, Md., company announced a team today that includes Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Harris Corp., IBM Corp., Management Systems Designers Inc., Science Applications International Corp., SI International Inc. and Unisys Corp.
Each of the company has either technical expertise or customer knowledge that will be critical in completing the project, said Dick Fogel, Lockheed Martin's capture manager for the project.
Dates for a request for proposals and an award have not been set, but the law mandating the system has both 2003 and 2004 deadlines, Fogel said. "The sooner the solicitation comes out the better," he said.
Other bidders expected to compete with Lockheed Martin are teams led by Computer Sciences Corp. and Northrop Grumman Corp. CSC officials confirmed they have a team, but Northrop officials said they are still weighing their options.
U.S. VISIT, which is the acronym for Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology will develop and implement an automated system to track the entry, stay and exit of foreign nationals to the United States via land, sea or air.