General Dynamics wins $3.7B Army procurement contract

General Dynamics C4 Systems Inc. will provide computer hardware and software procurement assistance to the Army under a five-year, $3.7 billion contract, according to an Aug. 29 Defense Department announcement.

The firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee, level-of-effort, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract will provide for the procurement of the Command Hardware Systems-4, DOD said.

CHS-4 provides a rapid procurement path for U.S. military and government organizations to receive radios, satellite communications and encryption equipment, computers and other products that are cost-competitive with the commercial market, company spokesman Rob Doolittle explained in an e-mail message.

“The contract also contains a technology-insertion provision to ensure that the CHS-4 inventory includes the most-advanced commercially available products and a technical support and logistics provision that affords a wide range of services, from the rapid repair and replacement of equipment to the deployment of field service personnel to CHS-4 user locations worldwide,” he wrote.

Among the types of equipment available through the CHS-4 contract are:

• Rugged and semi-rugged computers and ultra-thin client products.
• Computer peripherals.
• Routers and other gear related to network communications and management.
• Power subsystems and related equipment.

The CHS-4 contract is a follow-on to the potential $2 billion, 10-year CHS-3 effort awarded to General Dynamics C4 Systems business unit in 2003.

Work will be performed in Taunton, Mass., with an estimated completion date of Aug. 26, 2016.

The bid was solicited through the Internet, with one bid received, the DOD announcement said.

The U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, Contracting Center, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., is the contracting activity.

General Dynamics Corp., of Falls Church, Va., ranks No. 5 on Washington Technology’s 2011 Top 100 list of the largest federal government contractors.