General Dynamics Wins U.S. Army’s $229M Contract to Build Next Generation Cryptographic Key Loader

The U.S. Army awarded General Dynamics $229 million to develop and produce a certified hand-held device to manage and transfer cryptographic key material and mission planning data.

Under this contract, awarded by the Army’s Program Executive Office Command, Control, Communications-Tactical, General Dynamics will design and build a National Security Agency-certified key-loader: The Next Generation Load Device-Medium (NGLD-M). The initial value of this multiple-award, indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract is $229 million, with a 10-year period of performance, during which the U.S. Army plans to procure 265,000 units.

The NGLD-M will be used broadly by U.S. government agencies and U.S. global partners to replace aging Simple Key Loader fill devices. It is a network-enabled device allowing the network manager to reconfigure cryptographic products, perform Over-The-Network-Keying, conduct remote software downloads, and improve operational environment awareness.

The NGLD-M devices will transfer the strongest NSA-generated cryptographic keys to tactical, strategic, and enterprise network systems operating from unclassified up to the highest levels of security classification.