Navy Awards $88M Contract for Secure Data Transfer Systems
The three-year agreement funds the maintenance and modernization of Radiant Mercury cross-domain security technology.
Updated on Oct. 28, 2026 in Cybersecurity
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The U.S. Navy has awarded Lockheed Martin an $88.56 million contract for the production, maintenance, and modernization of Radiant Mercury systems. This initiative provides a cross-domain solution for secure data transfer between different security classifications.
Why it matters
The contract ensures the continuity of secure information sharing for military and government networks. It enables authorized data movement while maintaining strict access controls across disparate security domains.
The Radiant Mercury system operates as a cross-domain solution, a technology that inspects data in transit to ensure compliance with pre-defined security policies. It enforces specific rules regarding transfer direction and conditions between isolated security domains.
The players
Lockheed Martin
An aerospace and defense contractor that manages the development and sustainment of Radiant Mercury from its business unit in Littleton, Colo.
U.S. Navy
The military branch responsible for issuing this indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity agreement to support system security authorization.
The details
Radiant Mercury facilitates the movement of information between networks with different security levels by acting as a high-assurance gateway. The system inspects incoming and outgoing data packets to determine if they meet established security protocols before allowing a transfer. This process maintains operational integrity by preventing unauthorized information leakage between restricted domains.
Timeline
October 20, 2026: The ordering period for the contract begins.
October 19, 2029: The contract ordering period concludes.
The Tech Race
This award marks a continuation of long-term government investment in standardized cross-domain security infrastructure. It sustains a mature platform against emerging requirements for secure, multi-level operational data exchange.
The program supports defense and intelligence personnel by automating the secure transfer of critical operational data. Individual task orders will define specific performance locations and technical requirements throughout the three-year duration.
The takeaway
This agreement provides the financial structure to modernize security gateways through 2029. Future updates will depend on the issuance of individual task orders that specify performance parameters and deployment milestones.
Further reading
Explore more developments in secure network architecture on the Cybersecurity page.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Military & Aerospace Electronics.
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