Raytheon appears to have missed the window to protest the Army's award to Lockheed Martin of the A4 Sentinel radar upgrade, conceding defeat in the estimated $3 billion project the same week the company won a potentially larger Army radar program, the Lower Tier Air and Missile Defense Sensor.
On Oct. 17, the window for Raytheon to protest the A4 Sentinel Radar upgrade contract appears to have closed; as of Oct. 22, the Government Accountability Office docket does not reflect any protest by Raytheon for the new radar modernization contract.
On Oct. 22, a Raytheon spokeswoman declined to confirm or deny any action the company had taken regarding the A4 Sentinel contract award.
Companies wishing to contest source selection of a major federal contract have 10 days to file a protest with the Government Accountability Office after the customer provides a debrief on its source selection.
On Oct. 7, Raytheon spokeswoman Jackie Gutmann told Inside Defense, "We are still waiting for a debrief date from the Army."
On Oct. 22, an Army source told Inside Defense that Raytheon was provided a written debrief on the A4 source selection during "the first week of October, up to Oct. 7."
That shows the 10-day clock for protesting the award would have run out on the close of business last Thursday.
On Friday, after repeated inquiries during preceding days to Raytheon about the status of the A4 Sentinel source selection debrief went unanswered, the company spokeswoman said in an email, "there is not much I can share with you post-debrief," indirectly acknowledging the event.
"Raytheon remains committed to delivering our sensors critical to the U.S. Army's mission today, to include [Ku-band Radio Frequency System], Sentinel A3, AN/TPY-2, Patriot and now LTAMDS," Gutmann added.
Earlier this year Raytheon Mission Systems and Sensors Vice President Bryan Rosselli said the A4 competition was an important new business opportunity; Raytheon is the original manufacturer of the Sentinel radar.
A source-selection protest can add months of delays to a weapon system program, even if GAO denies the claim; and a sustained protest can add years to a modernization project.