Lockheed Martin and General Dynamics have partnered to offer federal agencies and first responders a credentialing service for cost- effective compliance with Homeland Security Presidential Directive-12 (HSPD- 12) and First Responder Authentication Cards (FRAC) requirements. Focused on reducing the cost per credential, General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin will provide a managed service that will enable customers to purchase identification credentials on a cost-competitive, per-card basis, rather than purchasing an entire credentialing system or system components.

"At the core of this partnership is our belief that the government deserves the very best value for its dollar," said Carlaine Blizzard, vice president of Secure Enterprise Solutions at Lockheed Martin Transportation and Security Solutions. "This managed service gives the government exactly that, with the added advantage of flexibility to accommodate customers' individual needs. Our ability to tailor the implementation of our solution directly to the individual agencies allows us to offer them significant value at the most competitive price in the market."

The HSPD-12 presidential mandate seeks to protect government assets by creating a standard biometric identification credential for use by all federal workers and contractors when accessing government owned or leased facilities and computer systems. The credential for first responders will allow emergency personnel to quickly establish their identities and privilege levels when accessing the area of incident, and is intended to be fully interoperable with the HSPD-12 credential.

"Through this partnership, our customers will reap the benefit of working directly with two solution providers whose past performance records are unmatched in this industry," said Scott Price, vice president of Homeland Security Solutions for General Dynamics Information Technology. "Our customers now have access to twice the innovation, a deeper pool of experienced systems integrators, and a highly competitive solution that is available today to achieve the requirements laid out in HSPD-12 well before the October 27 deadline."

Through the partnership, Lockheed Martin will supply its BioUnique(TM) framework for identity management, systems infrastructure, and card production; it will also provide enterprise workflow management to ensure personal identification verification (PIV) compliance, in accordance with the Federal Information Processing Standard 201 (FIPS) standard outlined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. General Dynamics Information Technology will provide its MobileID(TM) enrollment and associated services, including mobile operations and scheduling, as well as card issuance and training.

General Dynamics and Lockheed Martin were among the first to be qualified by the General Services Administration to provide integration services for HSPD-12; this qualification authorized each company to supply services and products related to integration, activation, and finalization, card management and production, enrollment and registration, and systems infrastructure. Additionally, both companies have participated in first responder exercises, including Operation Winter Fox, a multi-agency demonstration that tested the interoperability and usability of the FRAC through simulated emergencies at federal, state, and local facilities.

Well-versed in biometric technology development and deployment, Lockheed Martin was the lead systems integrator for the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System, the world's largest law enforcement and criminal history database. The company is also responsible for the enrollment, biometrics capture, and access control systems used in the national Registered Traveler program, which gives credentialed individuals expedited access through airport security checkpoints.

With more than 40 million secure credentials in circulation today, General Dynamics is a leading provider of credentialing solutions for border security, government ID programs and first responders. General Dynamics has supported numerous credentialing programs including the Department of Defense's Common Access Card (CAC), the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC), and HSPD-12, as well as first-responder pilot programs. The company has developed card-personalization systems as well as secure identifications for national and international applications.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin employs about 135,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.

General Dynamics, headquartered in Falls Church, Va., employs approximately 81,900 people worldwide and had 2005 revenue of $21.2 billion. The company is a market leader in mission-critical information systems and technologies; land and expeditionary combat systems, armaments and munitions; shipbuilding and marine systems; and business aviation.

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SOURCE: Lockheed Martin