Did OCI issues kill a $40M SAIC contract?

BAE Systems cried foul when Science Applications International Corp. won a $40.2 million Navy contract in late June under the Seaport-e contract.

The company quickly filed a bid protest with the Government Accountability Office, and got some quick action from the Navy; they pulled back the award on July 25, just 10 days after BAE filed the protest.

GAO made no ruling on the merits of the grounds of the protest, so the Navy is taking a corrective action on its own.

While the BAE protest filing is not available, GAO said the company cited what it believed to be an organizational conflict of interest issue on SAIC’s part, and that the best value decision and cost analysis by the Navy was flawed.

SAIC has declined comment so far, but a BAE spokesman said, "We are pleased that the validity of our protest has been recognized and that the Navy will take corrective action."

That corrective action includes an investigation and analysis by the Navy, the BAE spokesman said.

"We look forward to the Navy’s final decision and believe we will ultimately be selected as the awardee," he said.

Work under the contract, known as the Family Special Operation of Vehicles, involves outfitting vehicles with sophisticated command and control equipment to support military operations outside the United States. The contract was awarded by the Naval Air Systems Command, Aircraft Division.