Navy awards network contract

The Navy awarded a $102.2 million delivery order to General Dynamics Corp. to upgrade the service's 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 awarded the contract Wednesday to General Dynamics, choosing the company over Avaya Inc., according to an announcement on Spawar's Web site (www.spawar.navy.mil). Both companies hold Voice, Video and Data contracts with Spawar.

The Navy Base Level Information Infrastructure (BLII) delivery order may give Navy personnel outside the United States better network infrastructure that what the service has within the United States because it will be completed by October 2003, said Tom Reidy, deputy chief information officer for the Navy's European Forces in London. BLII is more commonly known as Outside the Continental U.S. Navy Marine Corps Intranet (OCONUS NMCI).

The first installations that will receive 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. BLII also includes other installations in Europe and the Far East.