Vertex Aerospace, LLC (N00421-20-TO-0001 )

B-418828.8 Jul 23, 2021 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Vertex Aerospace, LLC, of Madison, Mississippi, protests the cancellation of fair opportunity submission request (FOSR) No. N00421-20-TO-0001, issued by the Department of the Navy for contractor logistics support, including organizational, select intermediate, and limited depot level maintenance and logistics support services for F-5N/F and F-16A/B Adversary Program aircraft. In addition, Vertex protests the Navy's decision to award an interim sole-source contract to PAE Aviation and Technical Services, LLC, of Arlington, Virginia, for contractor logistics support for F-5 N/F aircraft. Vertex argues that the cancellation of the solicitation was unreasonable and the sole-source award to PAE was improper. 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:  Vertex Aerospace, LLC File:  B-418828.8 Date:  July 23, 2021 J. Alex Ward, Esq., W. Jay DeVecchio, Esq., James A. Tucker, Esq., Alissandra D. Young, Esq., and Lyle F. Hedgecock, Esq., Morrison & Foerster LLP, for the protester. Anuj Vohra, Esq., Christian N. Curran, Esq., and William B. O’Reilly, Esq., Crowell & Moring LLP, for PAE Aviation and Technical Services LLC, the intervenor. Jason B. Nelson, Esq., Thomas J. Florip, Esq., and Christopher Erly, Esq., Department of the Navy, for the agency. Alexander O. Levine, Esq., and Jennifer D. Westfall-McGrail, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1.  Protest challenging cancellation of solicitation is denied where the agency reasonably determined that a change in requirements exceeded what offerors were likely to have anticipated when the solicitation was originally issued. 2.  Protest challenging the placement of an interim sole-source contract is denied where the agency reasonably determined that only one offeror could provide the highly specialized services in question without causing an unacceptable delay. DECISION Vertex Aerospace, LLC, of Madison, Mississippi, protests the cancellation of fair opportunity submission request (FOSR) No. N00421‑20‑TO‑0001, issued by the Department of the Navy for contractor logistics support, including organizational, select intermediate, and limited depot level maintenance and logistics support services for F-5N/F and F-16A/B Adversary Program aircraft.  In addition, Vertex protests the Navy’s decision to award an interim sole‑source contract to PAE Aviation and Technical Services, LLC, of Arlington, Virginia, for contractor logistics support for F-5 N/F aircraft. Vertex argues that the cancellation of the solicitation was unreasonable and the sole‑source award to PAE was improper.[1]   We deny the protest. BACKGROUND On December 20, 2019, the Navy issued the FOSR against its Contracted Maintenance, Modification, Aircrew and Related Services (CMMARS) multiple-award, indefinite‑delivery, indefinite‑quantity (IDIQ) contract to procure maintenance and logistics support services for F-5N/F and F-16A/B aircraft.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 1, Conformed FOSR at 1.  The requirement was previously met using two separate contracts:  Contract No. N00019-15-D-0001 for F-16A/B support with DynCorp International, Inc. and Contract No. N00421-15-D-0007 for F-5N/F support with PAE. In response to the FOSR, the agency received six proposals, including proposals from Vertex and PAE.  On May 29, 2020, the agency issued a task order to Vertex at the evaluated price of $534,872,306.  Contracting Officer’s Statement and Memorandum of Law (COS/MOL) at 4.  On June 15, our Office received protests of the award from DynCorp and PAE, which we docketed as B-418828.1 and B-418828.2 respectively.  After the agency announced it would take corrective action by reevaluating proposals, our Office dismissed the protests as academic. On November 13, after completing this reevaluation, the agency again issued the task order to Vertex.  On December 7, our Office received protests of the award from PAE and AECOM Management Services, Inc., which our Office docketed as B-418828.3 and B-418828.4 respectively.  On March 17, 2021, our Office denied PAE’s protest but sustained AECOM’s protest, finding that the agency held unequal exchanges with offerors.  See AECOM Mgmnt Services, Inc., B-418828.4 et al., Mar.