SAIC to fight for lost $4.6B contract

Science Applications International Corp. isn’t taking the loss of one of its biggest contracts lying down. The company has filed a bid protest over the awarding of a $4.6 billion contract to Lockheed Martin to support the Defense Department’s Global Information Grid.

The company said it filed the protest June 22.

“We feel our solution is the best value for the customer and we are proud of our performance history on this contract,” SAIC said in a statement.

According to Deltek procurement data, the contract has brought in $3.8 billion since SAIC won it in 2002.

The new award to Lockheed is a seven-year contract with a three-year base worth $1.9 billion. There also are two two-year options that bring the total value up to $4.6 billion.

SAIC said it was disappointed in the decision to award the contract to Lockheed Martin.

“We have a strong and agile team, and because of our high technical readiness levels, we feel we are the best choice,” SAIC said in its statement.

The Global Information Grid is a series of interconnected networks and computer systems that serves as the backbone of DOD’s command and control systems. It is managed by the Defense Information Systems Agency.

Lockheed Martin is ranked No. 1 on the 2012 Washington Technology Top 100 list of the largest government contractors. SAIC is No. 4.