Navy awards network deal

The Navy awarded a $102.2 million delivery order May 16 to General Dynamics Corp. to upgrade its networks outside the continental United States and make them more interoperable with the rest of the Navy's enterprise.

Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command officials chose General Dynamics over Avaya Inc., according to an announcement on Spawar's Web site.

The Navy Base Level Information Infrastructure Outside the Continental United States (BLII OCONUS) delivery order is expected to be completed by October 2003, said Tom Reidy, deputy chief information officer for the Navy's European Forces. BLII is also known as Navy Marine Corps Intranet OCONUS.

The first installations to get the fiber-optic cable upgrades and information technology service and outreach centers through BLII are in Bahrain; Yokosuka, Japan; and Naples, Italy, according to Spawar.