Leidos [LDOS] is the new prime contractor for the Army’s Common Hardware Systems (CHS) program, an effort to supply hundreds of customer organizations with IT hardware solutions and technical support and which was previously managed by General Dynamics Mission Systems [GD].
“The prime contractor is responsible for vendor management, which provides equipment and services including task orders, delivery orders, basic purchase orders [and] technology insertions. Tasks include system integration/installation, testing, studies, analyses, logistics support, engineering support and to providing an Integrated Data Environment and web-based system for product catalog orders,” Paul Mehney, spokesman for the Army’s Program Executive Office for Command, Control and Communications-Tactical, told
Defense Daily of Leidos’ selection for the new CHS-Sixth Generation (CHS-6) contract.
The Pentagon announced on Thursday evening that Leidos had secured an Army contract worth potentially $7.9 billion for IT hardware systems and system management solutions (Defense Daily, Aug. 31).
Mehney noted the CHS-6 contract covers rapid acquisition orders for “standard and emerging Commercial off the Shelf (COTS) hardware and software products for program offices and individual tactical units across the Army, DoD and federal agencies,” supporting more than 500 customer organizations.
“Over a typical year, between 75,000 to 100,000 pieces of hardware are acquired off the contract from approximately 200 small and large businesses,” Mehney said.
Leidos’ CHS-6 contract begins with a four-year base period, which is followed by two three-year options, according to Mehney.
“We were under the impression that Leidos bid aggressively for this award. The contract adds to a litany of mega IT contracts that Leidos has secured over the past five years, and has the potential to be a significant growth driver for Leidos in 2024,” Louie DiPalma, analyst with investment firm William Blair, wrote in a note on the CHS-6 contract award.
GD Mission Systems was the incumbent on the program, with the company last awarded a $3.9 billion deal in August 2018 for the CHS-5 contract (Defense Daily, Aug. 3 2018).
Along with Leidos, GD Mission Systems reportedly bid on the CHS-6 contract while CACI [CACI] had been disqualified earlier from competing for the program due to an “appearance of an unfair competitive advantage,” as stated in a Government Accountability Office decision denying CACI’s protest on the matter.