Army orders smart card readers

The Army has selected SchlumbergerSema for the largest deployment of smart card readers in the United States, the company announced Sept. 20.

Logicon Inc. has acquired nearly 60,000 of SchlumbergerSema's Reflex smart card readers for fielding to the Army under the Defense Department's Common Access Card program. The new order is in addition to SchlumbergerSema's previous announcement that Electronic Data Systems Corp. bought 600,000 of its Java-based Cyberflex Access smart cards for the overall DOD Common Access Card program.

"The U.S. Army's Secure Electronic Transactions—Devices Program Office chose the Reflex smart card readers after an internal evaluation and testing process," John Gist, Logicon's program manager for the General Services Administration Smart Access Common Identification Card contract, said in a written announcement. "Readers are an integral part of smart card deployments to secure the link between users and networks."

The order marks the first time the GSA contract has been used by one of the armed services to support its smart card requirements, the SchlumbergerSema announcement noted.

The Army will use readers that connect with desktop and portable computers to authenticate smart cards used for secure network access.

The Common Access Card program uses secure, multiple-application smart cards for physical identification, building access and network access. The multitiered program is being rolled out throughout DOD over the next few years.