[Protest of Air Force Contract Award for Aerial Target Towing Services]

A firm protested an Air Force contract award for aerial target towing services, contending that the Air Force: (1) should have rejected the awardee's bid for noncompliance with the solicitation; and (2) engaged in technical levelling when it gave the awardee an opportunity to revise its proposal after it issued a clarifying amendment to the solicitation. GAO held that: (1) the Air Force acted properly in pointing out the deficiencies in the awardee's proposal; (2) it would not disturb the contracting officer's decision to include the awardee's proposal in the competitive range unless the decision was arbitrary or unreasonable; and (3) there were no successive rounds of discussions or any other indication of improper coaching which would constitute technical levelling. Accordingly, the protest was denied.