A contract worth more than $100 million to extend contractor support for U.S. Special Operations Command and other government agencies topped the list of contracts announced by the Pentagon last week.
The Defense Department awarded 52 contracts valued at $1.5 billion in the week ending Sept. 5, according to an analysis by Military.com. That represents a significant slowdown from the previous week, likely due in part to a shortened contracting period as a result of the Labor Day holiday last Monday.
The largest single award came in the form of a $150 million modification to an existing contract from the Army Research Lab to a handful of defense contractors, including Science Application International Corp. and Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., that boosts the overall value of the deal to $630 million, according to the Sept. 2 announcement.
The work calls for the contractors to help expand the abilities of the Army, SOCOM and other agencies "in expeditionary warfare, irregular warfare, special operations, and stabilization/reconstruction operations," according to a previous notice on the website www.fbo.gov.
"The current global environment has stressed the need for these agile capabilities far beyond what has been experienced during the past management of this contract," it states. "Consequently, use of the contract has exceeded historical rates."
Specifically, the firms will furnish personnel, facilities and equipment to prepare studies, technical investigations and research and development; and to provide acquisition and logistics support related to upgrades and modernization, according to the contract announcement.
The work is expected to be finished in December 2015. An Army Contracting Command division in Durham, N.C., is overseeing the agreement.
