IRIA News

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has awarded global aerospace and defense firm General Dynamics’ business unit General Dynamics Information Technology (GDIT) a $922 million contract to modernize Command’s IT infrastructure.

According to the GDIT statement, the new contract, which was awarded to the company by the General Services Administration in February, has a one-year base period and five option years.

Under this contract, “GDIT will operationalize enterprise data through artificial intelligence/machine learning technologies to improve decision-making, transition CENTCOM to a new cloud environment, and enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of its networks,” the company statement highlighted.

GDIT’s senior vice president for Defense Division, Brian Sheridan said, “Technological innovation is critical to promoting stability and protecting our national security interests in this strategically important region. We look forward to delivering advanced solutions to enable CENTCOM to be better connected and prepared in support of its missions.”

CENTCOM directs and supports military operations and activities with U.S. allies and partners to safeguard U.S. interests and bolster regional security and stability. CENTCOM requires a state-of-the-art enterprise IT network infrastructure to seamlessly link data and systems to support agile warfighters in effectively executing current and future missions in its area of responsibility which covers 21 nations in Northeast Africa, the Middle East, and Central and South Asia.

U.S. Department of Defense classifies digital engineering as a means of “using and integrating digital models” and underlying data to support the development, testing, and evaluation, as well as sustainment of a system. Pentagon is committed to implementing digital engineering in the technical activities across the department, including developmental test and evaluation, human systems integration, modeling and simulation, software development, system safety, and modular open systems approach, among other activities.

General Dynamics Information Technology will also leverage its “zero trust capabilities” to strengthen CENTCOM’s cyber defenses and protect against future cyber threats.

Earlier in January, GDIT President Amy Gilliland said that the company is heavily investing in digital engineering. The company is increasing investments in several key areas and concepts including, zero trust, 5G technologies, multi-cloud management, artificial intelligence and machine learning, software factories and automation for IT operations, as well as quantum computing and defensive cyber operations.

The Department of Defense released its “Zero Trust Strategy and Roadmap” to counter network attacks, enable risk management and effective data-sharing, and contain adversary activities. The Pentagon established Zero Trust Portfolio Management Office in 2022 and aims to get the zero trust architecture by 2027.

The strategy Director of the Zero Trust Portfolio Management Office Randy Resnick while describing the Zero Trust features, said “If we compare this to our home security, we could say that we traditionally lock our windows and doors and that only those with the key can gain access… With zero trust, we have identified the items of value within the house and we place guards and locks within each one of those items inside the house. This is the level of security that we need to counter sophisticated cyber adversaries.”

The Zero Trust Strategy and Roadmap outlines four high-level and integrated strategic goals that define what the department is doing to achieve that level of security.

• Zero Trust Cultural Adoption: Making sure that all personnel understand and are aware, trained, and committed to mindset and culture to support the integration of zero trust.
• DOD Information Systems Secured and Defended: Cybersecurity practices incorporate and operationalize zero trust in new and legacy systems.
• Technology Acceleration: Technologies deploy at a pace equal to or exceeding industry advancements. 
• Zero Trust Enablement: Department- and component-level processes, policies, and funding are synchronized with zero trust principles and approaches.