Army to use SAIC sensors

The Army late last week awarded a $26.4 million contract worth potentially $1.1 billion to Science Applications International Corp. to network chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear-detection sensors at 200 military installations worldwide.

SAIC and its industry team members will also develop an information technology backup plan in case of a catastrophic terrorist attack on these sites.

The San Diego company will serve as lead systems integrator for the Guardian Installation Protection Program, according to an April 30 Defense Department contracts' statement. SAIC did not publish the contract award on its Web site.

The eight vendors that competed for the work expect officials with Joint Project Manager, Guardian to meet with them during the next two weeks for the contract award debriefing, said an industry official whose team lost the procurement. The military office in Fairfax, Va., falls under control of Army Space and Missile Defense Command in Huntsville, Ala. Defense Department officials kept the five-year prevention and training initiative quiet for three years after Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz issued a memo in 2001. The department wants an industry team led by one company to oversee prevention, training and IT services.