The news
Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) said on September 29 it won a $742 million CBP contract, a five-year recompete task order from U.S. Customs and Border Protection to support the agency's traveler and cargo security systems.
Virginia Business reported that CBP uses the systems to gauge the risk posed by travelers and cargo arriving in the United States. As prime contractor, SAIC will provide software development, operations, maintenance, upgrades and enhancements, the company said, so that CBP can respond to evolving technologies, threats and mission requirements.
The task order runs from September 15, 2026, through September 14, 2031, and was issued under the Alliant 2 contract vehicle. A recompete means the work was put back out to bid. SAIC did not name the individual CBP systems covered, the previous contract holder or how many companies competed.
Prabu Natarajan, SAIC's chief financial officer and interim leader of its Civilian Business Group, said the company's teams have worked with CBP for more than 25 years. He said SAIC takes an "Operator First" approach, building integrated capabilities around the needs of the agency's workforce rather than just supplying tools.
The award follows a separate five-year, $199 million recompete task order for CBP's Integrated Traveler Initiatives (ITI) 2.1 program, which Virginia Business reported SAIC won in February. Under ITI 2.1, SAIC supports technology used to process travelers at ports of entry and inspection checkpoints, according to the company.
Taken together, the two CBP awards total $941 million, by our calculation. Spread evenly, the new $742 million order would average about $148 million a year, also our calculation; SAIC did not say how spending will be phased. The Reston, Virginia, company has about 23,000 employees.
The numbers
- Task order value
- $742 million
- Period of performance
- Sept. 15, 2026 to Sept. 14, 2031
- February 2026 ITI 2.1 award
- $199 million, five years
- Two 2026 CBP awards combined (our calculation)
- $941 million
- SAIC's years working with CBP (company)
- More than 25
- SAIC workforce
- About 23,000
Why CEOs should care
For rival federal contractors, the award takes a large block of CBP systems work off the table until September 2031. SAIC's pitch leaned on more than 25 years with the agency, a reminder that long relationships and knowledge of existing systems carry weight when work is recompeted. Firms that want a share of this border technology work should ask whether they can team with SAIC as subcontractors on upgrades rather than wait five years for the next bid.
For investors and CFOs who track federal IT, the order adds multiyear revenue visibility at a time when SAIC's civilian business is run by an interim leader who is also its finance chief. Questions to watch in SAIC's next results: how much of the $742 million is funded now versus later, and how the company is filling leadership roles in the unit that won it.
For companies that move people or goods across US borders, including airlines, shippers and customs brokers, the systems CBP uses to assess traveler and cargo risk will be supported by SAIC through September 2031, with upgrades planned as threats change. Trade and security leaders should ask their CBP contacts and brokers how system changes will be communicated, so that updates to screening tools do not come as a surprise.
The bigger picture
Both of SAIC's 2026 CBP awards were recompetes covering systems the agency already relies on, not new programs. That points to where at least part of the border agency's technology budget is going: keeping mission systems running and upgrading them as threats change. SAIC framed the work as supporting Department of Homeland Security goals for border security and national economic prosperity.
The contract's shape also matters for technology chiefs running systems that cannot go offline. CBP is paying for development, operations, maintenance and upgrades in one five-year package rather than a one-time replacement. That model keeps a single prime contractor accountable for keeping systems running while changing them, a structure worth asking your own vendors about.
What’s next
Watch SAIC's next quarterly report for how the award is booked, including how much is funded up front, and whether any losing bidder protests it. Also watch for further CBP recompetes as other border technology contracts come up for renewal, which will show how this work is shifting among contractors.
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