Martin Marietta Corporation

B-259823.4 Jul 03, 1995 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights A firm protested the Naval Sea Systems Command's (NAVSEA) exercise of a contract option for torpedo defense system demonstration and validation, contending that NAVSEA: (1) improperly determined that its bid was technically unacceptable; and (2) failed to disclose vital information concerning the bid requirements. GAO held that: (1) the protester's proposed system failed to meet the solicitation specifications; and (2) NAVSEA had no prior knowledge concerning the acceptability of certain proposed materials. Accordingly, the protest was denied. View Decision Matter of: Martin Marietta Corporation File: B-259823.4 Date: July 3, 1995 * Redacted Decision Protest against agency determination that proposed sonar system is compliant with specification requirement for 360-degree coverage is denied where it appears from record that, although a matter of some uncertainty and considerable technical dispute, 360-degree coverage is at least theoretically possible and protester offers no conclusive evidence to the contrary. Protest that agency improperly failed to disclose vital information concerning acceptability of glass reinforced plastic (fiberglass) sonar dome proposed by protester in prior stage of development process and proposed again in current stage is denied where record does not establish that agency possessed superior, vital knowledge concerning fundamental acceptability of fiberglass dome prior to receipt of proposals for current stage; agency did not view fiberglass dome as unacceptable until after receipt of proposals, protester was aware that fiberglass is an inferior material for sonar domes, and protester knew or should have known of need to maximize sonar effectiveness. Attorneys DECISION Martin Marietta Corporation (MMC) protests the Naval Sea Systems Command's (NAVSEA) exercise of a competitive, down-select option under Westinghouse Electric Corporation (WEC) contract No. N00024-92-C-6223, for the demonstration and validation (D&V) phase for the United States/United Kingdom Joint Cooperative Project for Surface Ship Torpedo Defense (SSTD). MMC challenges the evaluation of proposals and argues that it was misled into offering a technical approach found to be unacceptable. [1] We deny the protest. The SSTD joint project seeks to combine equipment and technologies into a system that can successfully detect and defend against torpedo threats to surface ships. The contemplated system consists of three major operational functions or subsystems: (1) the Detection, Classification and Localization subsystem, which provides the sonar data and associated subfunctions needed to detect, classify and localize torpedo threats; (2) the Combat Control subsystem, which performs multi-sensor data fusion, threat evaluation, fire control solution generation, engagement scheduling, countermeasure employment, and command display and control; and (3) the Material Countermeasures subsystem, which utilizes towed or expendable countermeasures to divert threat torpedoes from their intended target or to inflict incapacitating physical damage to them. The Memorandum of Understanding establishing the SSTD Joint Cooperative Project provided for a four-phase SSTD development and production program: (1) Concept Evaluation, in which a feasibility study would be conducted; (2) D&V, in which contractors would conduct design tradeoff studies, develop a preliminary design, and produce advanced development models (ADM) in areas of high technical risk to validate the design approach; (3) Engineering and Manufacturing Development (EMD) (also called Full Scale Development); and (4) Production. During the Concept Evaluation phase, a request for proposals (RFP)--No. N00024-90-R-6066(Q)--was issued to solicit proposals for the D&V phase. Proposals were received from consortia led by WEC, MMC, and General Electric Aerospace Corporation. The agency reports that due to concerns over program risk having nothing to do with the content of the proposals received, but instead reflecting the complexity of the effort and the advanced technology required, it was determined that additional risk analysis was required prior to entering into the D&V phase. Consequently, the RFP was amended to include a Risk Mitigation Phase (RMP) of approximately 15 months to precede the D&V phase. The RMP phase became the basic contract effort, while the D&V phase was converted to option line items under the RFP. Contracts were ultimately awarded to WEC (No. N00024-92-C-6223) and General Electric (No. N00024-92-C-6222) on January 28, 1992.