DIA upgrades workstations to handle sophisticated tools

BAE Systems will modernize the Defense Intelligence Agency information system under a five-year award that has a $300 million ceiling.

The indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract calls for BAE Systems to modernize the Defense Department’s trusted computer workstations by creating a worldwide virtualized desktop infrastructure for DIA users and intelligence analysts.

As the prime contractor on the Next Generation Desktop Environment (NGDE) project, BAE Systems will create a multiple security level, multi-intelligence analyst environment that maintains DIA’s compliance with DOD standards for intelligence systems and applications, the company said in a statement today.

The upgraded workstations are intended to provide analysts with high-performance access to critical applications requiring less maintenance and offering greater control over software licenses, versions and updates, the BAE announcement said.

To achieve those benefits, complex 3D graphics, computationally demanding software tools, and software, such as streaming video, will be accessed through a server rather than by maintaining software on individual desktops.

NGDE workstations will incorporate Trusted Computer Solution’s SecureOffice Trusted Thin Client cross-domain solution. This will allow users to access appropriate applications and data from different security levels, according to BAE.

Trusted Computer Solutions will have a significant input into the new system, said Ed Hammersla, chief operating officer at TCS.

This contract is an extension of the NGDE pilot phase conducted earlier in 2010 that successfully deployed and evaluated a number of workstations worldwide in a fully operational environment.