Leidos faces challenge to $170.2M DTRA win

Leidos captured a new contract earlier this month with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency worth $170.2 million but they didn’t have much time to celebrate as the contract was quickly protested by a losing bidder.

Battelle Memorial Institute filed a protest with the Government Accountability Office this week. A decision is expected in late May.

The contract is known as the Science & Technical Engagement Partnership Program or STEP and supports DTRA’s Collaborative Biological Engagement Program. It’s a vehicle for DTRA to hire experts in a wide variety of fields, according to procurement documents.

The expertise DTRA needs can vary so it wants to use the contract to establish a pool of academic and technical resources it can tap. The agency needs visiting scientists, scientific mentors, trainers, research collaborators and other subject matter experts.

The STEP contract will support how DTRA works with global organizations such as the Global Partnership against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction, the World Health Organization, the international Organization of Animal Health and U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization.

DTRA is tasked with reducing threats from biological and chemical weapons. It does work around the globe including in several former Soviet countries such as Azerbajan, Ukraine, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. It also does work in Ethiopia, Kenya, South Africa, Afghanistan, Iraq, Cambodia and the Philippines.

The work includes research as well as onsite security and mitigation work. The contract supports biosafety, biosecurity and disease surveillance.

Besides the dollar value, another attractive thing about this contract is that it is new work. There is no incumbent contractor, according to Deltek.

The STEP win was the second recent win for Leidos with DTRA. In January, it captured a $17 million contract for modeling and simulation services.