General Dynamics wins $867M DHS infrastructure contract

In the latest on a hotly-contested acquisition, the General Services Administration has awarded an $867 million contract to General Dynamics Corp. to develop an integrated network infrastructure for the Homeland Security Department’s consolidated headquarters at the St. Elizabeth’s campus in Washington, DC.

The GSA said it awarded the seven-year task order on behalf of DHS to ensure that the department’s Technology Integration Program stays in step with construction of the headquarters campus.

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The IT infrastructure contract has been very competitive, with five contractors submitting bids last year. GSA awarded Northrop Grumman Corp. the $2.6 billion infrastructure contract for St. Elizabeth’s in September 2010, but General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin Corp., which also had submitted bids, filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office.

The GSA subsequently canceled the contract and issued another solicitation, saying it hoped for a clean slate to deal with the fairness issues raised in the bid protests. Northrop Grumman protested that decision, but GAO denied the protest in March.

GSA's Federal Systems Integration and Management Center announced the task order to General Dynamics on June 7 as part of the Alliant Government-wide Acquisition Contract. The center will continue to provide project, acquisition, and financial management support to DHS throughout the duration of the project, according to a June 7 news release.

"The DHS St. Elizabeth's campus will be a showcase for the value of integrating technology, people, and processes in a consolidated environment that will truly help DHS achieve their critical mission to protect the nation's security," GSA Administrator Martha N. Johnson said.

The infrastructure project includes design, procurement, configuration, installation, testing, securing, and maintaining an integrated network infrastructure to transport all DHS voice, video, and data across the headquarters.

General Dynamics has been the prime contractor for the Pentagon renovation since 1998. It also recently won a $146.2 million contract to support the Defense Department’s Washington Headquarters Services, which is relocating.

Even while the acquisition proceeds for St. Elizabeth's, next year’s funding for the DHS headquarters campus could be dramatically reduced, based on recent congressional activity. While the department requested $159 million for fiscal 2012 to continue the building renovations, the House reduced that account to zero in its recent vote. The bill has not yet been voted on by the Senate.