DHS reports huge interest in new border camera program.

• Author: Insinna, Valerie
• Position: Homeland Security News.

* With so few new acquisition programs in the pipeline at the Defense Department, it is perhaps no surprise that all the major contractors are competing for Customs and Border Protection's latest attempt to field a $1.5 billion camera system. in the Southwest.

The integrated fixed tower program has garnered "more [proposals] than I have ever seen in my life," Mark Borkowski, assistant commissioner for the CBP's Office of Technology Innovation and Acquisition, said at a House Homeland Security subcommittee on oversight, investigations and management hearing.

Borkowski served 23 years as an acquisition officer in the Air Force, and six more as a civilian at NASA and the Department of Homeland Security.

"I am very pleased with the number of proposals that we got. That suggests that all the communication we did with industry ... worked," he said.

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"The down side of that is I do have to slog through all those proposals," he added.

Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Raytheon Co., The Boeing Co. and a General Dynamics-EADS team are believed to be among the throng that has submitted proposals.

Borkowski's testimony suggested that the decision to award contracts to demonstrate systems won't be coming soon. However, there won't initially be a winner-take-all contract as there was in the past. Documents show that CBP will require winners of the first round to demonstrate their systems in a down-select competition. The agency has asked for high technology readiness...