DoD boosts Lockheed Savi RFID contract

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Feb. 5 (UPI) -- The Pentagon is boosting its Radio Frequency Identification contract with Savi, Lockheed Martin said Monday.

"The U.S. Department of Defense has extended the time and increased the value of its Radio Frequency Identification -- RFID -- II contract with Savi, a Lockheed Martin company. The contract has been extended to Jan. 31, 2009 and its ceiling increased by about $60 million to $483 million for the company's active RFID products and services," Lockheed Martin said in a statement.

"The contract amendments were made by the U.S. Army's Information Technology, E-Commerce and Commercial Contracting Center -- ITEC4 -- and the executive agent for the DOD is the office of the Product Manager, Joint-Automatic Identification Technology," Lockheed Martin said.

"We are proud to continue providing innovative RFID solutions that support the war fighter through this contract for another year," said Vic Verma, chief executive officer of Savi Group.

"This is the second contract extension and third ceiling increase that Savi has received on this contract, which was initially awarded in January 2003," said David Stephens, chief executive officer of Savi Technology, a Savi line of business focused on enterprise-level RFID-based solutions and services for defense and government customers.

"Savi, a leading developer and provider of RFID-based supply chain solutions and services for defense, government and commercial customers, has provided RFID solutions to the DOD for more than a decade. The company helped build the DOD's RF In-Transit Visibility -- ITV -- network, which spans more than 45 countries and tracks military supplies through 4,000 sites," Lockheed Martin said.

"In addition to the DOD, (Savi) provides RFID solutions for NATO, and defense forces in (Britain), Australia, Denmark, Sweden, and Spain, among others. Savi is building interoperable RFID-based networks for allies that enable them to improve the management of consignments for multi-national, joint-force operations," Lockheed Martin said.

"Founded in 1989, Savi Technology is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, with headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., and offices in Johannesburg, London, Melbourne, Singapore and Washington D.C.," Lockheed Martin said.