Lockheed Wins $1B Biometrics Deal
The FBI on Tuesday selected Lockheed Martin for a $1 billion contract to build a database for fingerprints and other biometric information.
Lockheed Martin Corp., which built and maintains the FBI’s current 10-fingerprint database, was the expected winner among analysts. Making good on its incumbent status, the nation’s largest defense contractor will keep its hands on the Next Generation Identification system contract.
Lockheed Martin’s Transportation and Security Solutions branch won the one-year deal, which include nine one-year options, the FBI said. Bethesda, Md.-based Lockheed Martin beat out teams led by Northrop Grumman Corp. and International Business Machines Corp.
The deal is a major upgrade to the FBI’s Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System because it allows the agency to more easily share anti-terrorism information with domestic and international partners and may include other identifiers, including palm prints, iris scans and facial recognition.
Read more about this deal at Forbes.