DCS loses protest over Army's $237M soldier gear contract redo
Gettyimages.com/ boonchai wedmakawand
By
Nick Wakeman
The company wanted the Army’s corrective action to go further, but the Government Accountability Office disagrees. That clears the Army to look at revised proposals and make a new award decision.
The Army agreed for a second time in March to re-evaluate proposals for a $237 million contract to improve the protective equipment worn by soldiers.
But the corrective action did not go far enough for DCS Corp., one of two protesters who objected to an award that went to Amentum. The second protester was MAG Aerospace, which did not raise objections to the corrective action.
DCS challenged the Army’s corrective action because it focused primarily on how small business participation, pricing and a few other factors would be evaluated. Bidders could only submit revisions that addressed those factors.
DCS argued that the corrective action failed to address other issues with the evaluation.
But GAO sided with the Army and denied the protest on Wednesday. The GAO decision has not been publicly released.
The Army can now implement its corrective action that includes discussions with the bidders, revised proposals and a new award decision.
The winner will provide engineering, quality assurance and test support, acquisition support, business management support, logistics and fielding support, operations support and administrative support.
Equipment includes boots, combat uniforms and the Ghillie suit accessory kit — camouflage snipers wear that can include netting, straps, face paint and hardware for customizing to different environments.