American Electronics, Inc. (N00019-21-R-0027)

B-421021,B-421021.2,B-421021.3 Dec 05, 2022 Jump To FULL REPORT VIEW DECISION RELATED PAGES GAO CONTACTS Highlights American Electronics, Inc. (Amelex), of California, Maryland, protests the award of a contract to Serco, Inc., of Herndon, Virginia, under request for proposals (RFP) No. N00019-21-R-0027, issued by the Department of the Navy, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), for program management knowledge-based services in support of the F-35 fighter aircraft Lightning II Joint Program Office (JPO). Amelex alleges that the agency's evaluation of the offeror's proposal and resulting award decision were 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: American Electronics, Inc. File: B-421021; B-421021.2; B-421021.3 Date: December 5, 2022 Edward J. Tolchin, Esq., Offit Kurman Attorneys at Law, for the protester. Daniel R. Forman, Esq., William B. O'Reilly, Esq., and Tyler S. Brown, Esq., Crowell & Moring LLP, for Serco, Inc., an intervenor. Tricia A. Nicewicz, Esq., Candi R. Alfred, Esq., and Alison McGuire, Esq., Department of the Navy, for the agency. Louis A. Chiarella, Esq., Kyle E. Gilbertson, Esq., and Peter H. Tran, Esq., Office of the General Counsel, GAO, participated in the preparation of the decision. DIGEST 1. Protest challenging the agency’s evaluation of the protester’s technical proposal is denied where the record shows that the evaluation and selection decision were reasonable and consistent with the terms of the solicitation. 2. Protest challenging the agency’s evaluation of the protester’s past performance is denied where the record reflects that the agency’s evaluation was reasonable and consistent with the stated evaluation criteria, and fully documented. 3. Protest challenging the agency’s cost realism evaluation of the protester’s proposal is denied where the record demonstrates the agency’s conclusions were reasonable. DECISION American Electronics, Inc. (Amelex), of California, Maryland, protests the award of a contract to Serco, Inc., of Herndon, Virginia, under request for proposals (RFP) No. N00019-21-R-0027, issued by the Department of the Navy, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), for program management knowledge-based services in support of the F-35 fighter aircraft Lightning II Joint Program Office (JPO). Amelex alleges that the agency’s evaluation of the offeror’s proposal and resulting award decision were improper. We deny the protest. BACKGROUND The F-35 Lightning II is “the next generation strike fighter bringing cutting-edge technologies to the battle-space of the future.” Agency Report (AR), Tab 1, RFP, Statement of Work (SOW) at 15.[1] The F-35 JPO is a joint, multi-national organization that supports the development and deployment of the F-35 aircraft to meet the operational needs of the United States Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, as well as the F‑35’s international partners. Id. In furtherance thereof, the SOW here addresses the need to provide the F-35 JPO with program management knowledge-based services that support the full acquisition lifecycle of the F-35 program, and which generally fall into three labor categories: program manager, program analyst, and financial analyst. Id. The RFP was issued on August 13, 2021, pursuant to the procedures of Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) part 15. RFP at 1[2]; Contracting Officer Statement and Memorandum of Law (COS/MOL) at 4. The solicitation contemplated the award of a single indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract, under which cost-plus-fixed-fee task orders could be placed, for a 5-year ordering period.[3] RFP at 41. In general terms, the RFP required the contractor to provide a total of 1,745,280 hours (or 909 full- time equivalents (FTE)) in specified labor categories in program management support. RFP at 108-110; see also COS/MOL at 9 n.5 (“[t]he Solicitation . . . set [a] predetermined labor mix and hours”). The RFP established that contract award would be made on a best-value tradeoff basis, based on three evaluation factors in descending order of importance: technical; past performance; and price/cost (cost).[4] RFP at 112-113. The technical factor consisted of three equal elements: understanding of the work; key personnel; and management approach. Id. at 113. The non-cost factors, when combined, were significantly more important than cost. Id. Nine offerors, including Amelex (the incumbent) and Serco, submitted proposals by the September 13 proposal closing date.