Leidos faces challenges to securing its biggest recompetes

Leidos cannot quite yet celebrate wins of two big contracts that were the company's largest recompetes last year.

First, General Dynamics IT is challenging Leidos' retention of a $6.5 billion Defense Information Systems Agency contract to manage one of DISA's largest global networks. 

That work came to Leidos when it acquired the Lockheed Martin IS&GS services in 2016. Lockheed won the contract in 2012.

GDIT is arguing that DISA did not do the evaluation properly for the Global Solutions Management Operations II contract. If it had been done correctly, GDIT says it would have been picked as the winner.

GSM-O is a huge undertaking and is used to operate and maintain the Defense Information Network and the related Global Information Grid, a group of interconnected networks and computer systems. It is essentially the backbone of the military’s command and control systems.

The contract has a five-year base, two two-year options and a final one-year option.

A decision from the Government Accountability Office is expected by April 1.

Contract number two is less IT focused and involves the $4 billion Hanford Mission Essential Services contract. That contract with the Energy Department supports restoration activities at the former Hanford nuclear production site in Washington state.

Leidos is leading a joint venture tasked with managing and carrying out clean-up efforts.

That award is being challenged by a subsidiary of Huntington Ingalls Industries known as the Hanford Integrated Infrastructure Services Contractor LLC.

A decision on that protest is due April 22.

When added together, the contracts being protested represent about 8 percent of Leidos’ overall revenue. Of course, that percentage stands to change after the company closes its $1.65 billion acquisition of Dynetics.

But either way, these are big dollar contracts for Leidos. They are sure to be aggressive in defending the wins as the bid protest processes move through.