DRS Sustainment Systems, Inc.

B-417628,B-417628.2,B-417628.3 Sep 09, 2019 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights DRS Sustainment System (DRS), of St. Louis, Missouri, protests a notice of intent to award a sole-source contract to General Dynamics-Ordnance and Tactical Systems (General Dynamics), of Williston, Vermont, pursuant to solicitation No. W56HZV-19-R-0063, issued by the Department of the Army, Army Materiel Command, for an active protection system (APS) and associated hardware for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle (Bradley). The protester challenges the basis for the sole-source award and contends that the agency imposed a pre-award qualification requirement and failed to engage in advance planning. We deny the protest. View Decision DOCUMENT FOR PUBLIC RELEASE The decision issued on the date below was subject to a GAO Protective Order. This redacted version has been approved for public release. Decision Matter of:  DRS Sustainment Systems, Inc. File:  B-417628; B-417628.2; B-417628.3 Date:  September 9, 2019 Neil H. O’Donnell, Esq., Jeffery M. Chiow, Esq., and Lucas T. Hanback, Esq., Rogers Joseph O'Donnell, PC, for the protester. Carla J. Weiss, Esq., and Matthew L. Haws, Esq., Jenner & Block LLP, for General Dynamics-Ordnance and Tactical Systems, for the intervenor. Jonathan A. Hardage, Esq., and Alyssa M. Carr, Esq., Department of the Army, for the agency. Lois Hanshaw, Esq., and Christina Sklarew, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST Sole-source award for a follow-on procurement contract for the continued development of a complex weapon system is unobjectionable where the agency reasonably determined that award to any other source would likely cause unacceptable delay in fulfilling the agency’s requirements. DECISION DRS Sustainment System (DRS), of St. Louis, Missouri, protests a notice of intent to award a sole-source contract to General Dynamics-Ordnance and Tactical Systems (General Dynamics), of Williston, Vermont, pursuant to solicitation No. W56HZV-19-R-0063, issued by the Department of the Army, Army Materiel Command, for an active protection system (APS) and associated hardware for the Bradley Fighting Vehicle (Bradley).[1]  The protester challenges the basis for the sole-source award and contends that the agency imposed a pre-award qualification requirement and failed to engage in advance planning. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND To protect soldiers, the Army states that it is moving toward installing APS on its combat vehicles.  COS/MOL at 2.  An APS is an autonomous system designed to detect, track, and defeat incoming threats fired by enemy forces before the threats hit the vehicle.  Id.  An APS is designed to counter advanced, anti-armor threats in order to protect soldiers.  Id. at 5.  Before it can be fielded, an APS must address engineering, design, performance, and safety issues.  Id. at 2.  Due to the complexity of the APS and the importance of its function in protecting soldiers, the Army requires extensive, government-run characterization testing to determine whether the system provides an upgrade in safety and can be installed onto a combat vehicle.  Id. at 2, 5.  In this regard, characterization testing is required to demonstrate the basic performance of an APS to detect, track, intercept, and degrade incoming threats.  Id. at 2.  The testing also assesses the impact of APS installation on the Bradley platform, including automotive performance, interoperability, firing performance, durability, electromagnetic-environmental effects, antenna co-site, and ballistic testing against rocket-propelled grenades, recoilless rifles, and anti-tank guided missiles.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 17, Justification and Approval document (J&A), at 6, 8.  On April 26, 2019, the Army finalized a J&A to support its decision to award a sole-source contract for production of an APS solution for the Bradley.  Id. at 10.  The J&A concluded that a sole-source award to General Dynamics was justified under 10 U.S.C. § 2304(c)(1) and Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) § 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii)(B), which authorize the award of a follow-on contract for the continued development or production of a major system or highly specialized equipment, including major components thereof, when it is likely that award to any other source would result in unnecessary delay in fulfilling the agency’s requirements.  Id.