A firm protested an Air Force contract award for a combination diesel and electric recharging unit, contending that the awardee's offered item was not equal to the protester's brand-name item. GAO held that: (1) the equal product met the salient characteristics listed in the solicitation; (2) the protester did not specify which automatic safety control features listed as salient were not included...

The proposed awardee's non-brand name item need not conform to those features of the brand name item which are not listed as salient characteristics. Which certified that it was a small business concern and that all end items would be manufactured or produced by small business concerns. Is a "front" for a large business under a total small business set-aside procurement is not for General Accounti...