Lockheed Picked for FBI Upgrade

New Program Would Aid Collaboration

The FBI has selected Lockheed Martin Corp. for final negotiations on a contract to build its computerized case management system, a troubled project that has already been scrapped once at a cost of $100 million, a source familiar with the deal confirmed yesterday.

The FBI released a statement yesterday saying it was in final talks with a company, which it did not name, and hoped to announce an award within a month.

The source spoke on the condition of anonymity because negotiations are continuing.

It has been widely reported that competition for the contract had been narrowed to Lockheed and Northrop Grumman Corp.

The program, called Sentinel, is designed to make it easier for agents to collaborate digitally.

"The FBI, now with the continuing pressures to share information across the elements of the law enforcement community and the national security community, knows it needs tools like this," said Ray Bjorklund, chief knowledge officer of Federal Sources Inc., an industry research firm.

The value of the Sentinel contract has not been announced. The FBI was criticized for allotting too little -- $170 million -- to its first attempt at the system. Zalmai Azmi, the bureau's chief information officer, has denied reports that the new contract is worth $792 million. Federal Sources estimated that Sentinel will be worth $150 million over several years.

The earlier contract, called the Virtual Case File system, was awarded to Science Applications International Corp. in June 2001. A report prepared for the House Appropriations Committee and detailed by The Washington Post said the FBI had doubts about the system as early as 2003 and by 2004 had identified 400 problems with it, but never told SAIC about those deficiencies. In March 2005 FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III abandoned the VCF program.

At a news conference outlining the new strategy for the system last June, Azmi said "Sentinel is a lot different than VCF," and will not be "implemented in one swoop," but will be phased in by 2009. Azmi also said Sentinel is more likely to rely on off-the-shelf software for the new program, rather than trying to build the system from scratch.

Government Computer News, a publication owned by The Washington Post Co., reported that the bureau had selected Lockheed for final contract discussions.

In a statement yesterday, FBI spokeswoman Catherine L. Milhoan said that "negotiations are still fluid but we hope to have the contract awarded within the next 30 days or so."