ARLINGTON, Va., Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pentagon's network infrastructure will continue to receive top tier operations and maintenance support now with an award of a $292.7 million contract to Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) by the U.S. Army Information Technology Agency (ITA).

Lockheed Martin will continue to provide network operations maintenance, management, and security support for all data networks within the Pentagon and the National Capital Region. The program provides constant, round-the-clock support through the Network Infrastructure Service Center.

"We're thrilled to continue to support the critical mission of the Pentagon by ensuring top quality, secure networks," said Ron Stefano, Vice President for Information Systems & Global Service-Defense. "It is truly a testament to the solid partnership our team has with our military customer. Their mission is our mission, and we are proud to support them."

In 2000, Lockheed Martin won a 10- year contract with the U.S. Army to serve as the Pentagon's Information Technology provider under the Information Technology Agency (ITA) contract. During this period a massive Pentagon renovation effort was under way, and Lockheed Martin was responsible for providing the IT infrastructure and network management from the customers wall plate all the way out to the networks.

On March 1, 2009, the Army awarded a sole source six month contract to Lockheed Martin to bridge the gap between the previous and current contracts, consolidating two separate existing contracts at the Pentagon - the Network Infrastructure Services Operation (NISO) and the Pentagon Primary Technical Control Facility contracts.

The program recently achieved International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 20000 certification for the ITA Enterprise Transport Management program, providing the customer with the satisfaction and advantage of a third party verification that Lockheed Martin uses the best IT practices in the world to support their mission.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 140,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation reported 2008 sales of $42.7 billion.

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http://www.lockheedmartin.com

SOURCE Lockheed Martin