Lockheed Martin has been awarded a five-year contract by the Department of Defense to configure, build and maintain a new Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) that will consolidate, store, and search fingerprint data collected worldwide by the department.

This new system will be patterned after the successful Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System (IAFIS), which Lockheed Martin developed and now maintains for the Federal Bureau of Investigation at its Criminal Justice Information Services Division in Clarksburg, W.Va. Today the IAFIS biometric database is the largest of its type in the world, providing its users fingerprint and criminal history data on more than 47 million subjects.

Funded at $5 million in its first year, the DoD ABIS contract calls for the acquisition, delivery, installation, integration, and O&M support for the system. The contract includes information technology hardware, software, communications technology and other equipment and supplies that are required. The contract was awarded as a task order under the U.S. Army's Information Technology Enterprise Solutions (ITES) contracting vehicle.

Linda Gooden, president of Lockheed Martin Information Technology, said, "We are pleased to be able to support the DoD in fielding this important operational capability. Our West Virginia team will ensure that this system works to deliver the level of capability and integration needed to support our country's Defense requirements for biometric fingerprint data."

The Defense Department will initially locate its ABIS in West Virginia, where Lockheed Martin will leverage existing support and expertise, using proven processes and procedures successfully matured in support of the FBI system. Fingerprint data identification is among several biometrics technologies being explored at the center.

Like its FBI counterpart, DoD ABIS will enable military agencies to conduct automated fingerprint searches, store images electronically, and exchange fingerprints on a 24-hour daily basis. The Bureau's Integrated Automatic Fingerprint Identification System referred to as IAFIS provides law enforcement officers an electronic response to criminal ten-print fingerprint submissions within two hours. Turnaround for civil cases averages 24 hours.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin employs about 130,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2003 sales of $31.8 billion.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin