Lockheed Martin Systems Integration--Owego, B-287190.2; B-287190.3, May 25, 2001

Lockheed Martin Systems Integration--Owego, B-287190.2; B-287190.3, May 25, 2001 TITLE: Lockheed Martin Systems Integration--Owego, B-287190.2; B-287190.3, May 25, 2001 BNUMBER: B-287190.2; B-287190.3 DATE: May 25, 2001 ********************************************************************** Lockheed Martin Systems Integration--Owego, B-287190.2; B-287190.3, May 25, 2001 Decision Matter of: Lockheed Martin Systems Integration--Owego File: B-287190.2; B-287190.3 Date: May 25, 2001 Thomas Humphrey, Esq., James J. Regan, Esq., John E. McCarthy, Esq., Elizabeth W. Newsom, Esq., Daniel R. Forman, Esq., Ariel R. David, Esq., and Jennifer L. Pomeranz, Esq., Crowell & Moring, for the protester. Rand L. Allen, Esq., Philip J. Davis, Esq., Paul F. Khoury, Esq., David M. Southall, Esq., Derek A. Yeo, Esq., and William Colwell, Esq., Wiley, Rein & Fielding, for Rockwell Collins, Inc., an intervenor. Raymond M. Saunders, Esq., Maj. Howard W. Roth, and Capt. Richard L. Hatfield, Department of the Army, for the agency. Scott H. Riback, Esq., and John M. Melody, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Protest that agency improperly awarded requirement on a sole-source basis because it determined that only one firm could meet its requirements is sustained where record shows that another potential vendor was given an incorrect understanding of the agency's requirements; agencies are required to provide potential sources an opportunity to demonstrate their ability to meet the agency's requirements based on an accurate portrayal of the agency's needs. DECISION Lockheed Martin Systems Integration--Owego protests the actions of the United States Special Operations Forces Command in connection with the acquisition of a common avionics architecture system for its fleet of helicopters. Lockheed maintains that the agency improperly has issued sole-source delivery orders to Rockwell Collins, Inc. under a contract held by that firm. We sustain the protest. I. BACKGROUND A. The Rockwell and Lockheed Avionics Systems The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, Airborne (SOARA) maintains a fleet of helicopters that have been specially modified to meet unique mission requirements. These helicopters, while variants of the regular Army's helicopters [1], currently have different support requirements because of differences in their configuration. For purposes of this protest, five different helicopter models maintained by SOARA are relevant: the MH-47D and MH-47E (variants of the regular Army's Chinook helicopter), Agency Report, Mar. 5, 2001 (AR), at 2; the MH-60L and MH-60K (variants of the regular Army's Blackhawk helicopter), id.; and the A/MH-6, variants of a small, maneuverable helicopter. Id. at 4. Rockwell designed and maintains its Cockpit Management System (CMS), a combination of software and hardware that serves to operate all systems on board the aircraft; it currently is installed on the MH-47D, the MH-60L and A/MH-6 helicopter models. The CMS operates on the Control Display Unit (CDU), a Rockwell-proprietary processor. While the government has "government purpose" data rights to some of the CMS software [2] (in particular, the Operational Flight Program software within the CDU), it does not have data rights with respect to various other elements of the CMS software. [3] Consequently, the government is unable to competitively acquire its software maintenance and enhancement requirements for the CMS as it is presently constituted. The software that comprises the CMS is written in what is regarded as a higher order computer language, ADA. Lockheed designed and maintains a different system, the Integrated Avionics System (IAS), which is installed on the MH-47E and MH-60K helicopter models. The IAS, like Rockwell's CMS, is a combination of hardware and software. The hardware includes a Lockheed-proprietary mission processor, as well as a display processor that is proprietary to Honeywell. The IAS has several hardware obsolescence problems. Specifically, the multifunction display units, the cathode ray tubes and the mission processors that are installed on all of the helicopters that employ the IAS are out of production. Further, the display processors installed on all helicopters employing the IAS are at capacity, so that no new functionality can be added to that system. As for the IAS software, while the agency has government purpose rights, the software is written in a computer language known as JOVIAL, which is not regarded as a higher order language. Currently, each firm has contractual responsibility to provide support for its respective system; these indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contracts, awarded on a sole-source basis, are referred to as the post-deployment software support (PDSS) contracts. Delivery orders awarded under Rockwell's PDSS contracts are the subject of the current protest. B.