[Protest of Air Force Evaluation of Bid for Flow Transfer Standard Systems]

A firm protested the Air Force's evaluation of its bid and subsequent contract award for flow transfer standard systems, contending that the Air Force improperly: (1) evaluated technical bids; (2) held discussions with the awardee; and (3) made award to the awardee, since its product did not meet the solicitation's requirements. GAO held that the: (1) protester untimely filed its protest of the awardee's bid evaluation, discussions, and failure to meet solicitation specifications more than 10 days after it knew or should have known the basis of protest; and (2) Air Force reasonably evaluated and downgraded the protester's technical bid, since the protester failed to provide sufficient data to determine if its system complied with solicitation requirements. Accordingly, the protest was dismissed in part and denied in part.