Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Mitre inks $350M U.S. Air Force contract

By Brendan Lynch

Mitre Corp. has landed $350.3 million from the U.S. Air Force, according to the U.S. Department of Defense, to provide system engineering and integration support for Air Force programs for Fiscal Year 2009. Hanscom Air Force Base is the contracting authority.

Bedford-based Mitre reeled in a similar deal a year ago. That deal, a $414.5 million Air Force deal, called for Mitre to provide engineering and integration support to the Air Force during Fiscal Year 2008.

Mass High Tech reported last month that Mitre is working with the Defense Technology Initiative and Mass Insight Corp. on planning an IT security center in Massachusetts, with an eye toward attracting a cyber-warfare component of a U.S. Air Force command to Hanscom. A working group including Mitre, Mass Insight Corp., Defense Technology Initiative, Raytheon Co. and Microsoft Corp., recommended the creation of the Massachusetts IT Security Research Center. The center could cost as little as $3 million a year if it mainly helps remote researchers network, or up to $50 million a year if it conducts its own research and development. Mass Insight is raising $250,000 to $400,000 for a planning study in January 2009.

Mitre manages three federally funded R&D laboratories: one for the Department of Defense, one for the Internal Revenue Service and one for the Federal Aviation Administration. The company, founded in 1958, specializes in IT and systems engineering.