ATA Defense Industries, Inc., B-282511.8, May 18, 2000

B-282511.8 May 18, 2000 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DIGEST Protester's contention that a solicitation improperly requires submission of proprietary technical data for evaluation of a commercial item in violation of the regulations governing commercial item acquisitions is rendered academic when the agency waives the application of the regulation. That the Army's intended testing plan for the system is inadequate. Which is restricted to participation by small and small disadvantaged businesses. The training ranges purchased under the INGATS contract will be composed of commercially available targetry equipment. The procurement is therefore being conducted pursuant to the commercial item procedures in FAR Part 12. The major subsystems that are assembled into INGATS training ranges are identified in our initial decision. View Decision Matter of: ATA Defense Industries, Inc. File: B-282511.8 Date: May 18, 2000 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION ATA Defense Industries, Inc. protests the terms of amendment 0009 to request for proposals (RFP) No. DAAE20-98-R-0215, issued by the Department of the Army's Tank-Automotive Armaments Command for the purchase of the Intermediate New Generation Army Targetry System (INGATS). ATA argues that the revised solicitation improperly requires submission of proprietary data explaining the operation of each offeror's INGATS system in violation of the regulations governing commercial acquisitions set forth in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 12. In addition, ATA argues that the solicitation fails to accurately state the agency's minimum needs, that the Army's intended testing plan for the system is inadequate, and that the solicitation--which is restricted to participation by small and small disadvantaged businesses--improperly requires the submission of small business utilization plans. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND This protest challenges the second attempt by the Army to complete its procurement of the INGATS system following our decision in ATA Defense Indus., Inc., B-282511, B-282511.2, July 21, 1999, 99-2 CPD Para. 33, which sustained ATA's protest of a contract award to Caswell International Corporation. /1/ As explained therein, the INGATS procurement calls for the installation of complete live-fire training ranges, including training in range operations, at various Army facilities throughout the world. Id. at 2. Then, as now, the training ranges purchased under the INGATS contract will be composed of commercially available targetry equipment, and the procurement is therefore being conducted pursuant to the commercial item procedures in FAR Part 12. Id. The major subsystems that are assembled into INGATS training ranges are identified in our initial decision. Id. One of these subsystems is the hit detector device (HDD), of which there are two types: one detects the presence of a hit by the vibrations caused when a projectile actually strikes the target; the other detects a hit, and extrapolates the virtual position of the hit on the target, by measuring the acoustic waves (or other types of footprints) the projectile makes as it passes through the plane of the target. Id. at 5. The latter, more sophisticated, type of HDD is called a non-contact HDD. On February 9, 2000, the Army issued amendment 0009 to the INGATS solicitation, which, among other things, requested submission of revised technical proposals by February 22. Amend. 0009 at 1. The revised solicitation required that proposals include significant detail about the workings of an offeror's non-contact HDD to aid the agency in its evaluation. Id. at 25. This detail included, but was not limited to, an explanation of the device's theoretical principals of operation including its expected accuracy, and an assessment of the sensitivity of the device to the approach angle of the projectile including an error analysis. Id. On February 17, ATA filed this challenge to the revised solicitation. DISCUSSION The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (FASA), 10 U.S.C. Sec. 2377 (1994), established a preference, and specific requirements, for acquiring commercial items that meet the needs of an agency. In general terms, the Act, and the regulations that implement it, are intended to steer government agencies clear of the more traditional, and intrusive, government contracting practices that have evolved when agencies are buying products that have no counterpart in the commercial marketplace. Thus, FAR Part 12 implements this policy by allowing agencies to use solicitation terms--and to make other adjustments in the areas of acquisition planning, evaluation, and award--that more closely resemble the commercial marketplace when procuring commercial items. See generally Aalco Forwarding, Inc., et al., B-277241.8, B-277241.9, Oct. 21, 1997, 97-2 CPD Para. 110 at 9-22. Consistent with this policy, FAR Sec.