U.S. Air Force names companies eligible for $5.8 billion IT network orders

Reuters
An X-47B pilot-less drone combat aircraft flies over the deck of the USS George H.W. Bush aircraft carrier in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Norfolk, Virginia, July 10, 2013. REUTERS/Rich-Joseph Facun

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Air Force on Thursday named 12 companies that are eligible to receive orders under a contract valued at up to $5.8 billion for computer network operations and infrastructure. The companies are Centech Group Inc, Epsilon Systems Solutions Inc, Smartronix Inc, SMS Data Products Group Inc, Indus Corp, Technica Corp, Telos Corp, Sumaria Systems Inc, BTAS Inc, American Systems Corp, STG, Inc, and MicroTechnologies LLC. The companies can be awarded individual orders under the Air Force's Network-Centric Solutions-2 system, which covers a wide span of equipment and services, including network management and defense, security and telephony infrastructure. The contract runs for three years and includes four 12-month options. (Reporting by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Dan Grebler)