SAIC loses bid protest for United States Army ground combat vehicle program 0612112

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Defense Industry News - United States

 
 
Tuesday, December 6, 2011, 07:23 PM
 
SAIC loses bid protest for United States Army ground combat vehicle program.
SAIC Inc. (SAI)’s protest of the U.S. Army’s decision to award development contracts for a new ground combat vehicle to two competitors was denied by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The decision was released in an e-mail today by Ralph White, managing associate general counsel for procurement law at the GAO.
     
SAIC Inc. (SAI)’s protest of the U.S. Army’s decision to award development contracts for a new ground combat vehicle to two competitors was denied by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The decision was released in an e-mail today by Ralph White, managing associate general counsel for procurement law at the GAO.
The Puma Armoured Infantry Fighting Vehicle
     

Our review of the record led us to conclude that the Army’s evaluation decisions resulting in the award of only 2 contracts were reasonable, consistent with the stated evaluation criteria, and did not improperly favor the successful offerors over SAIC,” White wrote.

SAIC, based in McLean, Virginia, on Aug. 26 protested the Army’s award a week earlier of technology development contracts to two competing industry teams.

The Pentagon announced on Aug. 18 that a team led by BAE Systems Plc of London received a $450 million contract and a team led by General Dynamics Corp. (GD) of Falls Church, Virginia, received a $440 million contract.

“We are disappointed to learn that the GAO did not sustain SAIC’s protest, and as a result of that decision will not grant the requested relief to award a third GCV contract to SAIC’s Team Full Spectrum,” Melissa Koskovich, a spokeswoman for SAIC, wrote in an e-mail. “We are confident that our innovative approach provided a best value solution to the Army and U.S. taxpayers.”

SAIC was partnered with Chicago-based Boeing Co. (BA), as well as Germany’s Krauss-Maffei Wegmann GmbH and Rheinmetall AG. (RHM), and proposed the new Puma IFV.

The Puma, which Rheinmetall and KMW have jointly developed for the German Armed Forces and will be delivering from late-2010, offers the series maturity expected by the U.S. Army. In virtually every category the Puma already satisfies the technical requirements of the GCV programme, even exceeding these significantly in key areas.