General Dynamics Awarded NSA Contract for Warfighters and Government Personnel to Order ‘All-in-One’ Secure Smartphone

Smartphone brings wireless access to the U.S. Government’s Secret Internet Protocol
Router Network (SIPRNet) and Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNet)

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The National Security Agency (NSA) has awarded a contract to General Dynamics C4 Systems enabling military and government users to order the Sectéra® Edge™ secure, wireless phone/personal digital assistant (PDA) or “smartphone.” The Sectéra Edge smartphone will be available to U.S. Department of Defense, Homeland Security and other government personnel with initial deliveries expected in fourth-quarter 2007. The Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) contract has a potential value of $300 million over five years. General Dynamics C4 Systems is a business unit of General Dynamics (NYSE: GD).

“The Sectéra Edge smartphone effectively replaces multiple devices and is an elegant convergence of cutting-edge communications and information assurance technologies packaged in a rugged, user-friendly design,” said John Cole, vice president of Information Assurance at General Dynamics C4 Systems. “Military and government users will have secure network connectivity whenever they need it, even on-the-move.”

Developed under the NSA Secure Mobile Environment/Portable Electronic Device (SME PED) program, the Sectéra Edge smartphone will provide wireless access to the U.S. Government’s Secret Internet Protocol Router Network (SIPRNet) and Non-classified Internet Protocol Router Network (NIPRNet), enabling users to email, web-browse and, with one touch, switch between classified and unclassified data communications.

Similar in form and function to a commercial cell phone/PDA, the Sectéra Edge smartphone will operate on existing Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) and wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) commercial cellular networks. The smartphone will also interface with the Department of Defense Public Key Infrastructure using the government’s standard Common Access Card.

General Dynamics C4 Systems, a business unit of General Dynamics, is a leading integrator of secure communication and information systems and technology.