Global data communication network around planet Earth viewed from space with connected grid technology for Internet of Things (IoT), cryptocurrency blockchain, mobile web or cyberspace, map from NASA (Getty images)
WASHINGTON — After multiple delays, the long-awaited award for the Digital Bloodhound program, a suite of capabilities aimed at improving detection of cyber threats to space ground systems, was awarded to Modern Technology Solutions, Inc (MTSI).
Under the contract, valued at $640 million, MTSI will provide Space Systems Command (SSC) with Digital Bloodhound as part of the service’s Defense Cyber Operations for Space mission, which works to protect against various types of unauthorized intrusion, corruption and destruction of the Space Force’s networks, according to a company announcement released on Thursday.
“The Digital Bloodhound award selection is a significant step forward for MTSI in providing engineering, test, and sustainment leadership and best-value solutions in the space domain in support of the warfighter,” MTSI President and CEO Kevin Robinson said in the release.
Under the contract, which is one-year base term and four option years award, MTSI is required to provide “integrated program management, software development and deployment, mission/field deployment and sustainment, and cloud services support to enhance defensive cyber capabilities and mitigate cybersecurity risk across the USSF.”
“Defensive Cyber Operations is an incredibly dynamic, challenging, and important mission, and as a company that owns and solves our customers’ toughest problems, we look forward to a partnership with SSC and Delta 6 cyber operators to rapidly provide and upgrade capabilities to outpace threats,” MTSI’s Digital Bloodhound Program Manager James MacFarlane said in the release.
The single contract award was initially set to be announced in June 2023 but was delayed twice, Breaking Defense previously reported. The Space Force did not respond to a request for comment regarding the reason for the delay.
The contract is seemingly worth less than originally planned. Col. Bryon McClain, head of SSC’s Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power Program Executive Office, announced at the end of 2023 that a contract for Digital Bloodhound was worth up to approximately $750 million.
MTSI has previously won contracts with the Space Force and the Missile Defense Agency, with the Space Force contract being part of a joint contract with a dozen other companies worth up to $2.5 billion for the Hemisphere program supporting SSC’s Space Domain Awareness and Combat Power and Battle Management, Command, Control, and Communications programs.
