RS3 on-ramp awards face protests
By
Nick Wakeman
So far four companies have filed protests after failing to be named one of the 198 winners of the Army's first on-ramp competition for the $37.4 billion RS3 contract.
The Army earlier this month made 198 awards out of 388 bids as part of the first on-ramp for its potential 10-year, $37.4 billion RS3 contract for professional services.
So with 190 disappointed bidders, it is no surprise that we are seeing bid protests.
To date, protests have been filed by:
- 22nd Century Technologies
- Modern Technology Solutions
- Tele-Consultants
- VT Services
22nd Century Technologies filed the first protest Oct. 22 and the due date for a decision by GAO is Feb. 4. The others were filed Oct. 29 and decisions are due Feb. 6. It is very likely that GAO will bundle these four into a single decision or group them around the specific grounds they are protesting.
RS3 is formally known as the Responsive Strategic Sourcing for Services contract. The Army bundled several expiring task order contracts such as Rapid Response 3rd Generation, or R2-3G, and Strategic Services Sourcing, or S3.
The contract is used for a variety of services to support C4ISR systems.
Last year, the Army picked 55 winners for the original wave of RS3 awards. This first on-ramp brings the total so far to 253 awards. Other on-ramp opportunities are expected in year three of the contract and year six.