US:The US Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) is preparing to pay private contractors up to $1 billion to conduct vital tasks of analysis and collection over the next five years, an amount that would set a new record in the outsourcing of such functions by the Pentagon's top spying agency.
The proposed contracts reflect a continuing expansion of the Defense Department's intelligence work and fit a well-established pattern of Bush administration transfers of government work to private contractors.
Since 2000, the value of federal contracts signed by all agencies each year has more than doubled to reach $412 billion, with the largest growth at the Defense Department, according to a congressional tally in June.
Outsourcing particularly accelerated among intelligence agencies after the 2001 terrorist attacks caught many of them unprepared to meet new demands with their existing workforce. The DIA did not specify exactly what it wants the contractors to do but said it was seeking teams to fulfil "operational and mission requirements" that include intelligence "gathering and collection, analysis, utilisation and strategy and support".
The DIA's action comes a few months after CIA director Michael V Hayden, acting under pressure from Congress, announced a programme to cut the agency's hiring of outside contractors by at least 10 per cent.
The CIA's effort was partly provoked by managers' frustration that officials with security clearances were frequently resigning to earn higher pay with contractors while performing the same work - a phenomenon that led lawmakers to complain that intelligence contract work was wasting money.
Democratic congressman Jan Schakowsky, a member of the house select committee on intelligence, described the DIA proposal as "mind-blowing". She said it was "definitely something to be concerned about".
In its notice, published on a procurement Web site, the DIA said that "the total price of all work to be performed under the contracts will exceed $1 billion", adding that the tally "is only an estimate and there is no guarantee that any orders will be placed".
A DIA spokesman, Terrence Sutherland, said this week that "this is the first DIA contract of its type specifically intended for the procurement of intelligence analysis and related services".
The DIA is the US's major manager and producer of foreign military intelligence, with more than 11,000 military and civilian employees worldwide. The committee has questioned the additional costs involved in using contractors, citing an estimate that a government civilian employee costs on average $126,500 a year, while the annual cost of a core contractor, including overhead and benefits, is $250,000.-