DTRA chooses 9 for $4B counter-WMD tech contract

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency has awarded 9 companies positions on a potential 10-year, $4 billion contract vehicle for research-and-development work focused on technologies to counter weapons of mass destruction.

DTRA received 11 bids in total for the contract that covers an initial five-year base period and a five-year optional ordering period, the Pentagon said in its Wednesday awards digest.

Awardees are as follows:

• Applied Research Associates (incumbent)
• Booz Allen Hamilton (newcomer)
• Leidos (incumbent)
• Noblis (newcomer)
• Parsons (newcomer)
• Peraton (incumbent)
• SRC (newcomer)
• Signalscape (newcomer)
• Two Six Technologies (newcomer)

The Pentagon's notice does not detail how the awards are broken out across the contract's three pools.

Pool one is technology-oriented and cuts across such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, data science and software development. Pool two's focus is on operations and countermeasures in chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear environments. Pool three is mostly about targeting, information operations and irregular warfare.

Awardees will compete for task orders to support in DTRA’s mission of reducing and eliminating incentives for U.S. adversaries to develop and possess their own weapons of mass destruction. DTRA also lists the threats as potentially originating from fragile or failed states.

If all options are exercised, the ordering period will go through May 2034.

DTRA has obligated approximately $1.5 billion in task order spend against the incumbent contract that was originally awarded in 2013 to seven companies. Applied Research Associates has been by far the largest recipient of those obligations at $881.2 million, according to GovTribe data.