Anduril Industries, Inc. (FA8612-21-R-0601)

B-419420 Feb 22, 2021 Jump To VIEW DECISION DOWNLOADS RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights Anduril Industries, Inc., of Irvine, California, protests the terms of fair opportunity proposal request (FOPR) No. FA8612-21-R-0601, issued by the Department of the Air Force, for tactical edge node support. The protester argues that the terms of the solicitation improperly exceed the scope of the underlying indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contracts, and that the terms are unduly restrictive of competition. 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:  Anduril Industries, Inc. File:  B-419420 Date:  February 22, 2021 Tyler Evans, Esq., and Carl Wiersum, Esq., Covington & Burling, LLP, for the protester. Colonel Patricia S. Wiegman‑Lenz, Major Alissa J. K. Schrider, and Steven Sollinger, Esq., Department of the Air Force, for the agency. Raymond Richards, Esq., and Laura Eyester, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1.  Protest that task order solicitation for tactical edge node support exceeds the scope of the underlying multiple‑award indefinite‑delivery, indefinite‑quantity contracts is denied where the record shows that the requirement was reasonably encompassed within the contract’s scope of work. 2.  GAO lacks jurisdiction to consider a protest alleging that the terms of a task order solicitation are unduly restrictive of competition where the solicitation is issued under Department of Defense indefinite‑delivery, indefinite‑quantity contracts, and the value of the proposed task order award is less than $25 million. DECISION   Anduril Industries, Inc., of Irvine, California, protests the terms of fair opportunity proposal request (FOPR) No. FA8612‑21‑R‑0601, issued by the Department of the Air Force, for tactical edge node support.  The protester argues that the terms of the solicitation improperly exceed the scope of the underlying indefinite‑delivery, indefinite‑quantity (IDIQ) contracts, and that the terms are unduly restrictive of competition. We deny the protest.  BACKGROUND On February 28, 2020, the Air Force issued broad agency announcement (BAA) No. BAA‑AFLCMC_CAIO‑2020‑0001‑001 pursuant to Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) section 6.102(d)(2), other competitive procedures, to select firms for the award of IDIQ contracts for the agency’s advanced battle management systems (ABMS) program.  Agency Report (AR), Tab 5, ABMS‑BAA at 1.  The BAA sought solutions “to address problems associated with getting the right information to the right platform/decision maker in the most efficient manner[.]”  AR, Tab 6, BAA Amend. 001 at 1.  Relevant to this protest, the BAA stated the following: [T]he U.S. Air Force needs to develop, acquire and operate systems as a unified force across all domains (air, land, sea, space, cyber, and electromagnetic spectrum (EMS)). . . .  To manage the broad scope of ABMS, technical categories have been defined to organize concepts, technologies, etc. based upon their roles within the ABMS construct.  This organization is not intended [to] encourage a solution that spans all categories or to limit solutions to one category.  Proposals are desired with small feature sets focused in one area but may span multiple categories when reasonable. Id. at 2.  The BAA organized its requirements into seven categories, numbered as follows:  (0) digital architecture, standards and concepts; (1) sensor integration; (2) data; (3) secure processing; (4) connectivity; (5) applications; and (6) effects integration.  Id. at 3‑4.  Offerors could submit proposals for one or more technical categories.  Id. at 4, 7.  The Air Force explained that it intended to establish a pool of firms under each technical category.  AR, Tab 11, Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) at Question 18.  To be eligible to compete for task orders, offerors would need to hold an ABMS IDIQ contract that included the technical category under which the prospective task order solicitation was to be issued.  Id., Tab 7, BAA attach. ABMS Model IDIQ Contract at 82.  On May 29, Anduril responded to the BAA, proposing solutions for category 0, digital architecture, standards and concepts; category 4, connectivity; category 5, applications; and category 6, effects integration.  AR, Tab 9, Anduril Proposal at 3‑14.  On September 23, the Air Force awarded Anduril an ABMS IDIQ contract which included each of these categories.  Id., Tab 10, Anduril IDIQ Contract at 4.  The contract has a 5‑year base period with five 1-year option periods, and a maximum value of $950 million.  Id.  The contract included a statement of work, which set forth each of the seven ABMS categories and category descriptions.  Id.