Protest spotlight

(This occasional feature highlights protests decided by the Government Accountability Office.)

Agency: Army Materiel Command

Awardee: Leonardo DRS

Protesters: AAR Integrated Technologies and VT Miltope

What GAO found: The Army a year ago issued a solicitation for three maintenance support system devices, GAO writes in its decision. The solicitation anticipated a one-year base award with four 12-month optional ordering periods, worth an estimated $375 million.

The solicitation planned to evaluate proposals in two phases: one to evaluate proposals on an “acceptable/unacceptable basis” to determine if the technical approach met the requirements, and another to evaluate proposals for multiple factors, including technical, past performance, small business participation and price.

In July, GAO writes, the service received proposals from six bidders. Its initial evaluation found none of the proposals acceptable, and the Army amended the solicitation to remove this phase and proceeded directly to phase two.

In this phase, DRS received the best technical rating. Its price was $161.7 million, higher than AAR's $142.7 million, but lower than VT's $197.3 million. However, AAR received an unacceptable technical rating, while VT received an acceptable rating. DRS received an overall good technical rating.

AAR and VT Miltope protested, arguing the agencies did not test their samples in accordance with the solicitation. Additionally, they challenged the way technical proposals were assessed.

However, GAO denied the protests.

Read the decision here.