Summary

RBC Bearings Incorporated, of Trenton, New Jersey, protests the proposed sole-source award of a contract for 33 sets of duplex bearings, identified by national stock number (NSN) No. 3110-01-094-6792 to Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, of Stratford, Connecticut (or to its supplier, Kaydon Corporation, of Muskegon, Michigan) by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) under request for proposals (RFP) No. SPM4A5-09-R-0679. The bearings are a critical safety item, used in the swashplate assembly of the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. RBC argues that the sole-source procurement is improper.

We sustain the protest because the record shows that the need for this sole-source procurement, and RBC's ineligibility to compete, has been caused by the agency's failure to conduct advance planning.