Feds deny Sikorsky’s effort to overturn Army rejection of contract bid

Sikorsky Aircraft has lost its bid to overturn the Department of the Army”™s decision to award a $232 million contract to Bell Textron Inc. to build a new aircraft that will replace its Sikorsky-built UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter fleet.

The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) denied a protest filed by Sikorsky, which involved the Army”™s Future Long Range Assault Aircraft (FLRAA) program to produce new vertical lift aircraft to replace its aging H”‘60 Black Hawk utility helicopter fleet. The projected total contract value, including all options, is approximately $7.1 billion.

“In denying the protest, GAO concluded that the Army reasonably evaluated Sikorsky”™s proposal as technically unacceptable because Sikorsky failed to provide the level of architectural detail required by the RFP,” said the GAO in a statement, adding that it “also denied Sikorsky”™s various allegations about the acceptability of Bell”™s proposal, including the assertion that the agency”™s evaluation violated the terms of the solicitation or applicable procurement law or regulation. Finally, GAO dismissed Sikorsky”™s additional arguments on the basis that Sikorsky was no longer an interested party to further challenge the procurement.”

The GAO also stated that its decision “expresses no view as to the merits of these proposals,” claiming that its “bid protest process is handled by GAO”™s Office of General Counsel and examines whether procuring agencies have complied with procurement laws and regulations.”