Air Force awards $1.9B contract

The Air Force has selected General Dynamics Government Systems Corp. for the more than $1.9 billion Intelligence Information, Command and Control Equipment and Enhancement (ICE2) contract.

The indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract was awarded June 11. According to the Air Force, it will provide worldwide information technology sustainment and technical support, including preventive and remedial maintenance of hardware, and inventory management.

General Dynamics is the 26-year incumbent on the contract, which previously wascalled Intelligence Information Processing and Production (I2P2), according to a company spokeswoman. She said that as DOD continues to transform into a more network-centric organization, ICE2 solutions will help warfighters gain access to critical information.

Equipment supported under the award includes commercial, modified commercial and specially designed IT items used throughout the Defense Department Intelligence Information System and the command and control (C2) communities. The equipment also provides intelligence data to the national command authorities and various civilian agencies and departments, according to the Air Force.

A typical ICE2 site may include commercial off-the-shelf national security systems, intelligence data handling equipment, C2 equipment, local-area networks, wide-area networks, secure and nonsecure video systems, communication devices and/or exploitation equipment. The tools can be used to process information of varying security classifications.

Departments and agencies supported by this multiservice contract include, but are not limited to, the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, the Defense Intelligence Agency, the National Imagery and Mapping Agency, the National Reconnaissance Office, and the departments of State, Energy and Treasury.

To date, no funds have been obligated, but the contract is worth $1.95 billion over 10 years if all options are exercised. Funds will be obligated as individual delivery orders are issued, and work is scheduled for completion in November 2007, according to the Air Force.

The Air Force's recently created position of program executive officer (PEO) for services has identified ICE2 as one of more than 200 programs that fall under its purview, said Brig. Gen. Darryl Scott, deputy assistant secretary for contracting in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, during a November speech. The PEO oversees services contracts that exceed $100 million and any Office of Management and Budget Circular A-76 public-private competition issues that affect more than 300 positions.

General Dynamics Government Systems, based in Needham, Mass., is the second General Dynamics company to score a multibillion-dollar DOD contract this month. The Army earlier awarded General Dynamics C4 Systems the $2 billion Common Hardware/Software III (CHS-3) contract, which provides commercial and rugged computers, network hardware equipment, power subsystems, peripheral devices and commercial software to DOD customers worldwide.