More join protest fray in $82B Army LOGCAP V fight

Another disappointed bidder completely shut out of awards on the Army’s potential $82 billion “LOGCAP V” logistics and professional services contract is looking for a second chance to get on that lucrative vehicle.

But AECOM is not the only company that has filed a protest to the Government Accountability Office following the other challenge brought last week by DynCorp International, an incumbent that also was not selected for award.

Two LOGCAP V awardees in Fluor Corp. and a PAE-Parsons joint venture have each filed a pair of protests over different pieces of the 10-year vehicle they believe they should have won. News of their protests was first reported by Inside Defense.

Fluor, PAE-Parsons, Vectrus and KBR were chosen in mid-April out of six total bids for the contract that analysts see as key in shaping the global defense services market over its duration.

LOGCAP V is eyed as a more consolidated, less contingency-driven vehicle compared to the current LOGCAP IV contract and will be the Army’s main vehicle to acquire contractor-supported logistics services over the next decade.

KBR, Fluor and DynCorp are the incumbents on LOGCAP IV and that contract expires in April 2020.

For LOGCAP V, Fluor was chosen for Africa Command and the PAE-Parsons venture was awarded Southern Command. But KBR emerged as an early winner with three seats -- Afghanistan, European and Northern Commands.

Vectrus also saw a positive outcome given they preserved work in Central Command performed under a pair of contracts the Army rolled into LOGCAP V and also added Pacific Command.

Setting AECOM and DynCorp aside as they missed out entirely, the initial task order awards for LOGCAP V illustrate the scope of each region and why some of the winners are looking for more.

• KBR: $1.9 billion
• Vectrus $1.4 billion
• Fluor: $137.2 million
• PAE-Parsons: $34.6 million

Officials from AECOM, Fluor, PAE and Parsons did not respond to requests for comment. But I understand that Fluor is taking issue with the Army’s awards for Afghanistan and the European, Pacific and Central Command regions. PAE-Parsons is challenging awards for the African and Pacific Commands.

Within their assigned regions, each LOGCAP V contractor will participate in planning processes for both anticipated and crisis actions, plus take part in training exercises. This is intended to make the vehicle more enduring and stable compared to the current iteration.

DynCorp in particular has a lot riding on the outcome of their protest given that work on the current LOGCAP IV iteration represents nearly one-fifth of their annual sales, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

DynCorp received $548 million in task orders against LOGCAP IV last year and Fluor booked $895.6 million, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst James Bach wrote in an April 25 research note. Those companies currently divide work in Afghanistan under that contract and Fluor’s seat on LOGCAP V “may be less lucrative” than what they have now, Bach wrote.

The latest protests were filed May 1 and a GAO decision is anticipated by Aug. 9. GAO’s docket lists a ruling on DynCorp as expected by July 31.