GAO sides with BAE in latest dispute over $12B weapons support contract

The battle for a $12 billion nuclear weapons support contract has entered a new phase as the Government Accountability Office has ruled in favor of incumbent BAE Systems Inc.'s protest.

This is the second time GAO has found fault in how the Air Force chose a winner for the Integration Support Contract 2.0 contract.

BAE has held the contract since 2013 and first won the recompete in the summer of 2022, but that award was successfully protested by Guidehouse and Jacobs later that fall.

At that time, GAO told the Air Force to re-evaluate proposals and make a new award decision. GAO found problems with how the Air Force evaluated employee compensation and cost realism.

In February, the Air Force awarded the contract to Guidehouse and that prompted a protest by BAE.

BAE claimed the Air Force allowed Guidehouse to update its proposal beyond what GAO recommended.

GAO sustained BAE’s protest on Tuesday, a move that sends the contract back to the Air Force. That ruling also comes with recommendations that the Air Force re-evaluate proposals in accordance with the terms of the solicitation and then make a new awarded decision.

Because of the delays in awarding the new contract, the Air Force extended BAE’s current contract to the end of July. We expect another extension given the results of this latest protest.

The Integration Support Contract 2.0 covers the sustainment of the current Minuteman III missiles and its retirement. ISC 2.0 also supports the deployment of its successor system called the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent, which includes the Sentinel missile being built by Northrop Grumman.

The new contract will run for 18 years and cover services such as cybersecurity, digital engineering, model-based systems engineering and change management.

Here is some historical context to the need driving ISC 2.0: the Minuteman III missile was first deployed in 1970 with an expected lifespan of 10 years.