[Protest of MICOM Contract Award for TOW Missile Night Sights]

A firm protested an Army Missile Command (MICOM) contract award for TOW missile night sights, contending that MICOM: (1) failed to follow the solicitation's past performance evaluation criteria; (2) should have found the awardee's bid unacceptable and its prices unreasonably low; and (3) improperly referred the issue of the awardee's responsibility to the Small Business Administration (SBA), since the preaward survey found that the awardee lacked the technical expertise and equipment to perform the contract. GAO held that MICOM: (1) reasonably determined that the awardee lacked a relevant past performance history and properly scored its bid in accordance with the solicitation's evaluation criteria; (2) properly accepted the awardee's bid, since the solicitation did not require bidders to have manufacturing experience; (3) was required to refer the issue of the awardee's responsibility to SBA, since the awardee was a small business; (4) properly determined that the awardee's bid price was reasonable; and (5) properly made award to the awardee as the most advantageous bidder and after SBA issued it a certificate of competency. Accordingly, the protest was denied.