Lockheed has finger on defense biometric work

Lockheed Martin Corp. won a five-year, $11 million contract from the Defense Department for an automated biometric identification system to consolidate, store and search fingerprint data that the department collects worldwide, the company said today.

Lockheed Martin Information Technology of Seabrook, Md., will configure, build and maintain the system, which is patterned on the integrated automated fingerprint identification system that the company developed and maintains for the FBI at its Criminal Justice Information Services Division in Clarksburg, W.Va.

Awarded as a task order under the Army's Information Technology Enterprise Solutions contract, the Defense Department contract includes hardware, software, communications technology and other required equipment and supplies.

The new system initially will be in West Virginia and will let military agencies conduct automated fingerprint searches, store images electronically and exchange fingerprints.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs 130,000 workers worldwide and had 2003 revenue of $31.8 billion. It has held the No. 1 position on Washington Technology's Top 100 list of federal prime contractors for the past 10 years.