Transportation awards infrastructure, surveillance services contract

By Mary Mosquera
GCN Staff

The Transportation Department awarded a $46 million indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract on April 29 to five companies for communications, navigation and surveillance services at the department’s John A. Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Mass.

Dynamics Research Corp. of Andover, Mass.; Northrop Grumman Corp.’s IT division in Herndon, Va.; Science Applications International Corp.; Titan Corp. and Veridian Corp. of Arlington, Va., will provide the services for the contract, which has one base year and four one-year options. For Dynamics Research, which will do systems integration and engineering services, the contract will be worth up to $20 million over the duration.

The Volpe Center, a fee-for-service organization within Transportation’s Research and Special Programs Administration, works on air traffic management, highway and rail safety, strategic planning and economic analysis, environmental assessment, transportation logistics and security issues.

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The Army report identifies John Israel as a Titan employee, but Williams said Israel worked for a subcontractor, which he declined to identify. Adel Nakhla, a Titan employee, is described in the report as a suspect and a witness. The report identifies another Titan employee, Torin S. Nelson, but doesn't indicate Nelson's involvement. None could be reached for comment.

Titan refused to detail its contract with the Pentagon. Most of the company's translators have security clearances and all are approved by the Pentagon after a background check, Williams said.

Titan has experienced other problems with the contract. A Titan translator stationed in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was indicted last year for mishandling sensitive information and making false statements to federal officials. Earlier this year, the Pentagon questioned Titan's billing for services.

The Justice Department bribery investigation poses a greater danger to Titan than the Iraq prison abuse inquiry, because the former could result in significant fines and limits on exports, analysts said. The company isn't likely to be held responsible in the prison abuse inquiry even if its employees are prosecuted, analysts said.

The bribery investigation prompted Lockheed to lower its bid for Titan by $200 million to $2.2 billion, including the assumption of debt. The closing date on the deal has been postponed twice.


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