Ammo Affirmation

The Army today lifted a stop-work order imposed last summer on BAE Systems following a dispute over who should run the service's Radford ammunition plant, clearing the way for BAE's Support Solution division in Rockville, MD, to proceed with a 10-year, $730 million deal to run the Virginia facility.

The move came after the Government Accountability Office yesterday denied a protest by Alliant Techsystems -- which has run the Radford plant since 1995 -- over modifications the Army made to the contract awarded BAE last May. ATK will now hand responsibility for the plant to BAE Systems this summer.

Dave Herr, BAE Systems Support Solutions president, said in a statement, “We look forward to beginning the transition. Our team is eager to provide the customer and community innovative ideas and cost-effective solutions, along with our proven track record of safe and secure facility operations.”

Last May, ATK protested the award to BAE Systems, arguing to the GAO that the Army improperly evaluated its proposal and didn't do a cost-technical trade-off analysis as promised. Before GAO rendered a finding, the Army in August withdrew the solicitation and took “corrective actions” to the contract awarded BAE. ATK then appealed again to the GAO, arguing that “corrective actions were improper because they limited the scope of offerors’ proposal revisions,” according to GAO in its denial.