[Protest of Air Force Contract Award for Air Navigation Computers]

A firm protested an Air Force contract award to another firm for navigation computers, contending that the Air Force should have: (1) considered its low, alternate bid; (2) accepted its late modification, which reduced its bid; and (3) conducted discussions. GAO held that the Air Force properly: (1) rejected the protester's alternate bid, since it was based on waiver of a first-article-testing requirement, which the Air Force determined was necessary to ensure quality; (2) rejected the protester's bid modification, since the protester untimely filed it after bid opening; and (3) awarded the contract without holding discussions, since it determined that the awardee's bid was low and there was no reason to believe that discussions would result in a lower price. Accordingly, the protest was denied.