Metric Systems Corporation, B-279622, July 2, 1998

B-279622 Jul 02, 1998 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Sec. 2304(c)(1) (1994) is unobjectionable where the agency reasonably determined that only one source could complete the modification of an electronic warfare system to simulate advanced threats within the urgent time constraints of the procurement. Metric argues that the Air Force unreasonably determined that Harris is the only source capable of meeting the agency's needs within the required time constraints. The Mini-MUTES system is a surface-to-air-missile threat radar simulator presently in place on Combat Air Forces training ranges. The Mini-MUTES system was initially produced by General Dynamics Corporation pursuant to a 1986 contract. Harris was awarded the follow-on production contract in 1990. View Decision Matter of: Metric Systems Corporation File: B-279622 Date: July 2, 1998 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION Metric Systems Corporation protests the Department of the Air Force's decision to award a sole-source contract to Harris Corporation, Government Communications Systems Division, to provide total system performance responsibility for the Miniature-Multiple Threat Emitter System (Mini-MUTES) Modification Program. Metric argues that the Air Force unreasonably determined that Harris is the only source capable of meeting the agency's needs within the required time constraints. We deny the protest. The Mini-MUTES system is a surface-to-air-missile threat radar simulator presently in place on Combat Air Forces training ranges. Each system typically consists of one Master Control Group (MCG) and up to five Remote Emitter Units (REU). The REUs emit electronic signals that simulate different threat signal combinations to train pilots that might face the actual threats during combat, and the MCG directs and coordinates all REU activity occurring on the training ranges. The Mini-MUTES system was initially produced by General Dynamics Corporation pursuant to a 1986 contract. After a competition, Harris was awarded the follow-on production contract in 1990. Harris has since added new threats to the system's capability and improved its reliability pursuant to various engineering change proposals under that original contract. The Mini-MUTES system, whose current configuration uses a 1980s-vintage computer, was deemed obsolete in 1993 because its central processor units (CPU) were outdated and its bus (the electronic pathway through which the REUs and the MCG communicate) was inadequate. The Air Force lacked the funding to upgrade the system but continued to maintain and troubleshoot its outdated computer technology because it remained a viable simulator of low-level threats. At the same time, the Air Force began exploring its options for obtaining the capability to train against advanced threats. Beginning as early as 1995, and continuing through mid-1997, the agency commissioned advanced threat feasibility studies, explored joint initiatives with other military services, evaluated existing equipment and systems, and conducted informal market surveys with industry. In January 1997, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) announced its Dual Use Applications Program for the fiscal year 1997. Under the program's Commercial Operations and Support Savings Initiative (COSSI), contractors were asked to propose methods of inserting commercial technology into fielded military systems in order to lower the operations and support costs for such systems. News Release, Dual Use Applications Program Plans Announced, Jan. 14, 1997. The DARPA solicitation supporting COSSI set forth a two-stage process. In the first stage, DARPA and the contractor were to share the costs of developing and testing prototype "kits" for the military customer for installation into a fielded system. Assuming a successful first stage, the military customer's goal in the second stage of the process was to purchase reasonable production quantities of the kit at fair and reasonable prices and without recompetition. Solicitation No. 97-12 at 2, 3. Harris responded to the COSSI solicitation by submitting a proposal to replace the existing obsolete CPU and bus in the Mini-MUTE system with a commercial open architecture processor and bus system. On May 5 the Air Force announced that Harris's proposal was one of six Air Force projects that had been awarded a DARPA grant. News Release, Air Force Announces Operations and Support Projects, May 5, 1997. Successful completion of this task will result in a processor that extends the life of the present Mini-MUTES system to the year 2015. At about this same time, the Air Force announced that the acquisition or development of an advanced threat system by September 2001 was one of its highest priorities. Contracting Officer's Statement at 1. The acquisition is considered to be urgent because pilots unable to train against advanced threats might face them for the first time during combat.