[Protest of Air Force Contract Awards for Definition and Development of JASSM]

A firm protested two Air Force contract awards for definition and development of the Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile (JASSM), contending that the Air Force: (1) improperly evaluated its past performance; (2) did not adequately consider the complexity of the products being developed and placed undue emphasis on program similarity instead of product similarity; and (3) did not afford the protester the opportunity to modify its bid in response to the change in the evaluation criteria. GAO held that the: (1) Air Force properly evaluated the protester's performance as deficient on a previous contract; (2) bidders were advised prior to the closing date for receipt of proposals that the Air Force viewed program similarity as more important than product similarity; and (3) Air Force reasonably excluded the protester from the competitive range, since its total contract price for the development phases of the JASSM program would have remained substantially higher than either of the awardee's prices. Accordingly, the protest was denied.