Lockheed Martin takes off with $600m Air Force deal

US defence IT services company Lockheed Martin has won a $600m contract leading a consortium of suppliers to manage the IT services of the US Air Force in Washington DC.

The 10-year deal, which includes nine one-year options for extension, will support the Air Force Pentagon Communications Agency (AFPCA) with managed services and classified voice, video and data assistance.

Services will include call centre operations, enterprise IT management, and classified systems support for around 7,500 Defense Department users. The contract consolidates 50 existing deals with different vendors.

Other suppliers in the agreement include General Dynamics IS&T, SAIC, Titan, Booz Allen and Hamilton, SI International, SII, TDS, ESS, GMSI, Trawick, DSD Labs, NOC Technologies, AlphaTech, Tessada, and Phoenix Systems.

Lockheed Martin said the team will be able to give the most comprehensive support needed to meet the critical requirements of the US Air Force.

The company is currently in the running for the UK Ministry of Defence's £4bn IT outsourcing contract and recently withdrew from the bidding for the NHS' 'data spine' project, which is now due to be unveiled next week.