The U.S. Court of Federal Claims has denied Perspecta's lawsuit over the Navy's award of the multibillion-dollar Next Generation Enterprise Network services contract to Leidos.
The ruling, issued Thursday, allows Leidos to move forward with the $7.7 billion contract it won in February to provide services for the NGEN program.
NGEN provides information technology service to more than 400,000 hardware devices and more than 650,000 users at 1,700 locations around the world, Ruth Youngs Lew, the Navy’s program executive officer for digital and enterprise information systems, said in a statement to Inside Defense.
Following the ruling, the Navy issued a $797 million contract to Perspecta for NGEN services through the end of fiscal year 2021. This contract is necessary to accommodate the delays in transitioning from Perspecta to Leidos, Navy spokesman Ed Austin told Inside Defense.
“The purpose of the contract action is to allow for the continued performance of critical information technology services,” Austin said.
Perspecta’s contract with the Navy was scheduled to end this month. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Perspecta filed the federal lawsuit in July after the Government Accountability Office denied a series of bid protests it filed alleging numerous errors in the Navy's evaluation process.
GAO determined Perspecta had failed to substantiate the merits and impact of its accusations. The office determined that even if it had sustained Perspecta’s challenges, evaluators likely still would have preferred Leidos as Perspecta’s proposal had a higher price tag and lower ratings.
The new opinion from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, issued by Senior Judge Loren Smith, is sealed, but the court’s docket reflects a judgement in favor of Leidos.
Youngs Lew said the Navy is pleased to be able to move forward with the program.
“This contract will enable the DON to accelerate digital modernization of our enterprise networks, which are the foundation for the Department of Navy business,” Youngs Lew said.
Gerry Fasano, who heads the defense group at Leidos, said in a statement the company is pleased with the ruling and has not been sitting still during the partial stay caused by the protest and lawsuit periods.
“We are ready for immediate program execution and success,” Fasano said. “Through this contract, Leidos will support the important mission of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps by unifying and fortifying existing networks with the best technologies.