General Dynamics wins $300M NSA smartphone deal

General Dynamics Corp. has won a contract worth up to $300 million from the National Security Agency to deliver secure phones for use by qualified government personnel.

Under the five-year contract, General Dynamics C4 Systems will make available the Sectera Edge smartphone to the Defense and Homeland Security departments and to other qualified government personnel. The company expects to begin deliveries this quarter.

The Sectera Edge smartphone, which was developed under the NSA Secure Mobile Environment/Portable Electronic Device program, provides wireless access to the federal government's Secret Internet Protocol Router Network. It can use any of several cellular networks.

The smartphone replaces multiple devices and combines the latest communications and information assurance technologies in a rugged design, the company said. Qualified government personnel can use the smartphone to e-mail, browse the Web and switch between classified and unclassified data communications.

General Dynamics C4 Systems, based in Scottsdale, Ariz., is a business unit of General Dynamics. The Falls Church, Va.-based parent company ranks No. 7 on Washington Technology's 2007 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.