Monday, June 14, 2010;
19
Air Force's KC-X aerial refueling tanker
Who won: The team of EADS North America and Northrop Grumman in February 2008.
Who protested: Boeing.
What the GAO said: The agency backed Boeing, arguing the Air Force had made several errors that could have affected the competition's outcome, including failing to properly follow its own evaluation criteria and having misleading conversations with Boeing. The agency recommended the Air Force reevaluate the proposals.
What it meant for the program: The effort to replace the roughly 50-year-old Air Force tankers has long been in flux. The service in 2003 planned to lease tankers from Boeing, but a procurement scandal resulted in the deal's cancellation -- and sent a Boeing executive and a Pentagon official to prison. The program has now been restarted by the Defense Department.
Value: $35 billion.
Army and Marine Corps' Joint Light Tactical Vehicle, the next-generation Humvee
Who won: Three teams -- Lockheed Martin and Armor Holdings (now part of BAE Systems); General Dynamics and AM General; and BAE Systems and Navistar -- were selected for the first phase of the competition in October 2008.
Who protested: Northrop Grumman, which had teamed with Oshkosh, and Textron, which had partnered with Boeing and Science Applications International Corp.
What the GAO said: The agency denied the protest, finding not only that the protesters' arguments didn't hold up but also that their proposals had fallen short. Its report noted that the Northrop team's vehicles were rated high-risk for their reliability and maintainability and that the Textron team's entire proposal was deemed high-risk.
What it meant for the program: The protests delayed the program's start, but Army officials have said they expect to catch up.
Value: Because the cost per vehicle and the quantity of vehicles the two services will buy has not been decided, the total price tag isn't known. The contract has been estimated as worth somewhere between $10 billion and $30 billion.
Army's contract for training Afghan police forces
Who won: No one company was selected, but a pool of contractors already selected to receive future contracts was made eligible in December 2009.
Who protested: DynCorp International, the incumbent under a State Department contract.
What the GAO said: The GAO upheld the protest, finding that the Army improperly planned to use task order contracts set aside for a limited group of contractors rather than let anyone compete.
What it meant for the program: The Pentagon has said it will restart the effort, pledging to hold a "full and open competition."
Value: $1 billion.
-- Marjorie Censer
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