[Protest of Air Force Contract Awards for Aircraft Canopies]

A firm protested two Air Force contract awards to another firm for aircraft canopies, contending that: (1) the aircraft's prime contractor did not grant preaward approval to the awardee to manufacture the canopies, as the solicitation required; and (2) the awardee was not capable of producing the canopies. GAO held that: (1) although the Air Force incorporated the prime contractor's specifications into the solicitations for canopies, this did not establish the prime contractor's preaward approval as a precondition to award; (2) the solicitation required the Air Force to perform first article tests, when necessary, without any involvement by the prime contractor; and (3) it would not consider the portion of the protest concerning the awardee's responsibility, absent a showing that the Air Force acted fraudulently or in bad faith or failed to apply definitive responsibility criteria. Accordingly, the protest was denied in part and dismissed in part.