Boeing fields SBINet team

A third major federal contractor?Boeing Co. of Chicago?announced it has submitted a bid for the Homeland Security Department's estimated $2 billion Secure Border Initiative Network contract.

Boeing Integrated Defense Systems of St. Louis will team with DRS Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group, Parsippany, N.J.; Kollsman Inc., Merrimack, N.H.; L-3 Government Services Inc., Salt Lake City; Perot Systems Corp., Plano, Texas, and Unisys Global Public Sector of Reston, Va., Boeing said in a news release.

Lockheed Martin Corp. of Bethesda, Md., and Raytheon Co. of Waltham, Mass. announced this week they have submitted separate proposals for the project. Ericsson Inc. of Stockholm and Northrop Grumman Corp. of Los Angeles also are expected to have met the May 30 deadline for submitting bids.

The program will integrate surveillance cameras and sensors with communications systems to create a vast network to assist federal border control agents at the U.S. land borders. A central part of DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff's Secure Border Initiative, the network contract is expected to be awarded in September.

"Boeing understands the magnitude of this task and the issues associated with its complexity," George Muellner, president of Boeing Advanced Systems, said in a news release. "In addition to homeland security experience, we have a long history of successful development and rapid deployment of sophisticated large-scale systems."

For example, Boeing installed Explosives Detection Systems at more than 400 airports for the Transportation Security Administration shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Boeing executives also cited the Army's Future Combat System, International Space Station and the 787 Dreamliner commercial aircraft to demonstrate the breadth of the company's experience.

Raytheon has said its team includes Apogen Technologies, Inc., McLean, Va.; BAE Systems, Inc., Rockville, Md.; Bechtel National Inc., Frederick, Md.; Deloitte Consulting LLP, New York; and IBM Corp., Armonk, N.Y.

Northrop Grumman's partners include systems integrators General Dynamics Corp., Falls Church, Va.; L-3 Communications Titan Group, San Diego; Anteon International Corp., Fairfax, Va.; SRA International Inc., Fairfax, Va.; and BearingPoint Inc., McLean, Va. Also on the team are architecture and engineering firms L. Robert Kimball & Associates of Ebensburg, Pa., and HNTB Corp. of Kansas City.

Lockheed has not announced its team partners.