[Protest of Air Force Contract Award for System Engineering]

A firm protested an Air Force contract award for system engineering services, contending that the Air Force: (1) improperly evaluated its technical proposal; (2) conducted inadequate and unequal discussions; (3) conducted an improper cost realism analysis; and (4) should have referred it to the Small Business Administration (SBA) for a certificate of competency review. GAO held that: (1) the Air Force reasonably determined that the awardee's bid represented the best value to the government; (2) the Air Force reasonably evaluated the protester's bid in accordance with the solicitation's evaluation criteria; (3) the Air Force reasonably concluded that the protester would not have sufficient time to perform several requirements; (4) the Air Force was not required to discuss the relative weaknesses of the protester's technically acceptable bid; (5) there was no evidence that the protester was prejudiced by the Air Force's lack of discussions; and (6) the Air Force was not required to refer the protester to SBA, since it was comparing competitive proposals to determine the most advantageous bid. Accordingly, the protest was denied.