[Protest of DLA Decision To Waive Solicitation Requirements]

A firm protested a Defense Logistics Agency's (DLA) decision to waive first article testing for the awardee under a solicitation for vision blocks, contending that DLA had no reasonable basis for determining that the vision blocks the awardee previously supplied to the Army were similar or identical to the parts being purchased in this procurement. GAO held that the awardee had successfully supplied production quantities of similar items to the government under a previous contract and the awardee's test article was tested and approved under that contract to the same military specification that applies in the current procurement. Accordingly, the protest was denied.