General Dynamics to expand Fort Meade communications

General Dynamics Corp. will help prepare Fort Meade for an influx of government technology workers by upgrading the base's information technology infrastructure and network capabilities.The award has a total potential value of $16.5 million over two years if all options are exercised.Under the Defense Department's Base Realignment and Closure plan, the Defense Information Systems Agency is scheduled to move to Fort Meade by September 2011, adding 4,300 jobs to the base in Anne Arundel County, Md.Under the Infrastructure Modernization contract, General Dynamics Information Technology will expand bandwidth and network capabilities by building a high-speed broadband network backbone to support the expanded base operations.Fort Meade has been home to the intelligence community's National Security Agency since 1957.General Dynamics Information Technology is a unit of General Dynamics Corp., of Falls Church, Va. The parent company ranks on Washington Technology's 2008 of the largest federal government prime contractors.