Leidos wins second shot at $500M Air Force contract
By
Nick Wakeman
The Air Force has pulled back its award of a $486 million contract for security systems in the wake of a protest by incumbent Leidos, giving the company a second chance to win the contract.
Leidos’ bid protest over a lost contract with the Air Force might pay off now that the service has agreed to re-evaluate bids.
Leidos had been left off the group of winners of the Air Force’s Force Protection Security Systems contract when it was awarded in late January. This was a blow to the company because it has been an incumbent on the multiple award contract since 2009.
The contract has a $486 million ceiling and was won by InDyne Inc., L-3 National Security Solutions, Northrop Grumman and Xator. Northrop and L-3 also shared the incumbent contract with Leidos, according to Deltek.
Leidos also was the top contractor on the vehicle with $74.9 million in task orders. Northrop was second with $74.5 million.
The Air Force uses the contract for a variety of services related to its base defense security systems including program management, purchasing of equipment, installation and upgrades, testing, logistics, and other support.
When it lost the contract, Leidos was quick to file a protest with the Government Accountability Office, but GAO has now dismissed the protest after the Air Force said it would take a corrective action and re-evaluate proposals.
The Air Force could decide after the re-evaluation to not award a contract to Leidos. If that happens, Leidos still has the option to file another protest.
It’s also interesting to me that 12 companies bid on the contract and four won, but only Leidos filed a protest.
Of course, as an incumbent, they had plenty of incentive but still, you’d think at least one or two others would feel slighted as well.