SAIC scores early takeaway win with Engility deal

Just a couple weeks after closing its deal to buy Engility, Science Applications International Corp. has scored a sizeable win out of its new acquisition.

The Air Force has tapped Engility as the winner of a $655 million contract to support the Space and Missile Systems Center's advanced systems and development directorate. The contract covers engineering, development, integration and sustainment services to help transition ground space systems into a new enterprise architecture.

Lockheed Martin is the incumbent contractor dating back to 2005, so this win represents a significant takeaway for SAIC.

According to SpaceNews, SAIC and Engility had submitted separate bids prior to SAIC’s $2.5 billion acquisition of Engility. Peraton also apparently was a bidder.

The Defense Department said Thursday there were five bidders for the seven-year contract.

Given that the incumbent lost and the size of the contract, a bid protest is probably a good bet. It will be interesting to see if anyone tries to use the SAIC-Engility deal as a basis for their protest.

Leidos lost a competition that came during its acquisition of Lockheed Martin’s IT services business because the customer said there was too much risk from the deal. GAO agreed with the customer.

In that case, a protester could argue that the Air Force didn’t take the risk of the SAIC-Engility deal into account when awarding the contract. That’s a hypothetical on my part, I’ll admit, but there is some precedent.

Put pushing any protest concerns to the side, this win validates SAIC’s focus on space as a growth area.

A desire to add scale in the space and intelligence sectors were driving factors in SAIC’s desire to buy Engility.

This contract will support efforts to modernize the ground systems that control Air Force satellites. Most of the work will take place at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico; and Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. It runs through Jan. 31, 2026.

Listen to our podcast interview with SAIC CEO Tony Moraco as he talks about why the Engility deal was the right one for them to make.