RGB Display Corporation, B-284699, May 17, 2000

B-284699 May 17, 2000 Jump To VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DIGEST General Accounting Office will not consider protest of an award of a subcontract as "by" the government where the item being procured is a component of the end item to be delivered under a supply contract and is being incorporated into the end item pursuant to a legitimate change order that is necessary to ensure that a compliant end item will be delivered. The CCCT simulates a 360-degree view of the battlefield that a tank commander would have by peering out the top hatch of the vehicle. Which were Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)-based. Were manufactured by the protester. It uses a new chip technology made by Texas Instruments that is widely used in projectors. Diamond Visionics' initial prototype DDU design was a form/fit/function replacement for the 26-inch monitor. View Decision Matter of: RGB Display Corporation File: B-284699 Date: May 17, 2000 DIGEST Attorneys DECISION RGB Display Corporation protests the award of a subcontract to Diamond Visionics Company by Lockheed Martin Information Systems (LMIS), pursuant to a change order issued by the Department of the Navy under prime contract No. N61339-93-C-0004, for close combat tactical trainers (CCCT) for use by the Department of the Army. We dismiss the protest. The Navy awarded the prime contract to LMIS on November 20, 1992. Agency Report (AR) at 2, and attach. 1. The CCCT simulates a 360-degree view of the battlefield that a tank commander would have by peering out the top hatch of the vehicle. In the technology being replaced by the subcontract at issue, this "Commander's Popped Hatch" employed a circle of 10 26-inch monitors, with every other monitor placed at a higher level and turned downward instead of toward the center of the circle. The images of the five downward-facing monitors each reflected off of a mirrored surface (the beamsplitter) at approximately a 45-degree angle toward the center of the circle. This had the effect of creating a (virtually) seamless 360-degree image for the commander. Supplemental Agency Letter (SAL), Apr. 11, 2000, at 1. The 26-inch monitors, which were Cathode Ray Tube (CRT)-based, were manufactured by the protester, an LMIS vendor, using Mitsubishi Corporation's commercial off-the-shelf CRTs. During the course of performance, Mitsubishi discontinued production of the 26-inch CRTs. AR at 1. With no currently available technical alternative identified by LMIS for the 26-inch monitors, the agency turned to the Department of Defense's (DOD) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program on May 1, 1996. The Marine Corps awarded a competitively solicited phase 1 contract to Diamond Visionics on November 4, 1996 for a study to determine the scientific and technical merit and feasibility of alternatives to the 26-inch monitor. AR at 2-3, and attach. 5. A phase 2 award, for an initial prototype design, followed on August 13, 1997. AR at 3, and attachs. 6 and 7. Diamond Visionics proposed digital display units (DDUs). The DDU does not use the traditional CRT technology. Rather, it uses a new chip technology made by Texas Instruments that is widely used in projectors. Diamond Visionics' initial prototype DDU design was a form/fit/function replacement for the 26-inch monitor, but required the use of a beamsplitter. Diamond Visionics subsequently determined that 10 DDUs could be placed in a circle (edge to edge) and provide the same virtually seamless 360-degree image without a beamsplitter. SAL at 2. Diamond Visionics was then awarded a phase 3 SBIR contract to produce a prototype DDU design without the beamsplitter, with options for production units. AR at 3, and attach. 9. By the end of phase 2 of the SBIR contract, LMIS had almost depleted its inventory of 26-inch monitors. After an extensive trade study, the agency found that two different technologies existed to replace the 26-inch monitors: the DDU, and a modified 27-inch monitor proposed by the protester. When LMIS depleted its inventory of 26-inch monitors (prior to award of the phase 3 contract), the DDU was still in development, so LMIS purchased the protester's modified 27-inch monitors. AR at 3, and attachs. 10-16. After Diamond Visionics completed phase 3, an integrated product team (IPT) that included the agency, LMIS, and the end-users evaluated the DDU and the modified 27-inch monitor and conducted a life-cycle cost comparison. The IPT considered technical, safety, and human factors, as well as integrated logistics support, production readiness, configuration management, qualification testing, cost and risk factors. AR at 1, 3. Both technologies were found to have some problems, but the DDU was found to offer significantly higher performance and growth potential.