Air Force chooses 23 for $12.5B network modernization vehicle

The Air Force has awarded 23 companies positions on a potential 10-year, $12.5 billion contract to help the Air Force modernize network infrastructures at bases and other major locations around the world.

Air Force officials received 47 proposals for the contract that covers all aspects of the wired and wireless components in classified and unclassified networks, the Pentagon said in its Friday awards digest.

Work will also take place at Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve bases over the contract's full duration, which covers an initial five-year base period and a single option to extend for five additional years.

The Air Force set up the Base Infrastructure Modernization program to acquire and stand up a modern network architecture that can facilitate interoperability with joint network and mission systems, offer centralized vulnerability management and provide reliable data connections across installations.

Awardees are as follows:

• ActionNet
• Agile Decision Science
• Agile Government
• AT&T
• Booz Allen Hamilton
• CACI International
• CDO Technologies
• DecisiveInstincts
• EPS
• General Dynamics' IT services business
• GZO
• KriaaNet
• Leidos
• Lumen Technologies
• M.C. Dean
• Open San Consulting
• Q-Tech
• SMS Data Products Group
• Sumaria Systems
• Telos
• TM3 Solutions
• Trace Systems
• Tundra Federal

BIM is the successor to a prior piece of the Air Force's Enterprise IT-as-a-Service initiative, also known as EITaaS, that focused on experiments in using commercial networks and their related capabilities.

The new contract will have awardees compete to design, install, test and maintain the digital and physical assets of the networks. Awardees will also be responsible for operating, monitoring and sustaining the network based on requirements for multidomain operations.