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Glock protests Sig selection. Who'd guess?
Glock filed a GAO protest over the selection of Sig for the next generation pistol. Common practice and frequent last gasp maneuver. I've been involved in a lot of them.
Glock filed a GAO protest over the selection of Sig for the next generation pistol. Common practice and frequent last gasp maneuver. I've been involved in a lot of them.
Glock to Army on SIG's MHS XM17 Contract: Not So Fast
Posted from gunsamerica.comPosted in these groups: 
Handguns and Pistols
Small Arms
Handguns and Pistols Small Arms
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 3
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I waited until we had a couple of comments to avoid trail poaching points. So I can give you more information.
GAO protest is an administrative process. It halts further contractual action pending resolution. It's far cheaper vs. the US Court of Claims route. The level of proof isn't beyond reasonable doubt (criminal), not preponderance of evidence (civil), more likely (traffic court), etc. It's about demonstrating that the playing field wasn't level, and if it were, the outcome would be different.
So what the griper puts forth is usually a shopping list of "faults" in a bait chumming exercise to see if GAO bites on any of it. The specification was written around one vendor in particular. The evaluation criteria was faulty. The evaluation criteria was improperly applied. There were conflicts of interest in the board makeup. The winner didn't comply with this part of the solicitation. You name it.
On large procurements that will cover multiple years, the Contracting Office absolutely knows there will be a protest by the sore loser. So during the pre solicitation stage they do everything they can to bulletproof their package. It includes opportunities for vendors to speak up while it's being assembled to voice concerns about competition, etc. Some vendors try to steer an aspect knowing they have a leg up in the marketplace but risk the GAO reject button later on.
So the solicitation had aspects of "modular" that one outfit has been more mainstream with vs. others isn't in itself a problem. Glock would have to prove that Sig had an improper upper hand.
The other common objective is to data mine the competition through this process, knowing they have a snowball's chance of winning this time. Interesting to note that in more recent times, the protest framework is being prepared during their proposal period so the bidder can bulletproof their proposal more.
Bottom line, it's about big money, hence it's a blood sport.
GAO protest is an administrative process. It halts further contractual action pending resolution. It's far cheaper vs. the US Court of Claims route. The level of proof isn't beyond reasonable doubt (criminal), not preponderance of evidence (civil), more likely (traffic court), etc. It's about demonstrating that the playing field wasn't level, and if it were, the outcome would be different.
So what the griper puts forth is usually a shopping list of "faults" in a bait chumming exercise to see if GAO bites on any of it. The specification was written around one vendor in particular. The evaluation criteria was faulty. The evaluation criteria was improperly applied. There were conflicts of interest in the board makeup. The winner didn't comply with this part of the solicitation. You name it.
On large procurements that will cover multiple years, the Contracting Office absolutely knows there will be a protest by the sore loser. So during the pre solicitation stage they do everything they can to bulletproof their package. It includes opportunities for vendors to speak up while it's being assembled to voice concerns about competition, etc. Some vendors try to steer an aspect knowing they have a leg up in the marketplace but risk the GAO reject button later on.
So the solicitation had aspects of "modular" that one outfit has been more mainstream with vs. others isn't in itself a problem. Glock would have to prove that Sig had an improper upper hand.
The other common objective is to data mine the competition through this process, knowing they have a snowball's chance of winning this time. Interesting to note that in more recent times, the protest framework is being prepared during their proposal period so the bidder can bulletproof their proposal more.
Bottom line, it's about big money, hence it's a blood sport.
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It is common practice for no other reason than sometimes a gap in the armor is exposed that allows the protester to get their way. so long as the contract fulfillment time line is not effected, let um protest the contract award. If it is halting the progress to get the new equipment into our Sm hands ..Smash them like a bug,,,, Tariff their products, sanction them, forbid any US government contracts with is company. Easy for me to say as Im not a Glock Fan boy..and killing the US market for that manufacture would have crappy consequences for sure... But a decision was made, lets move on....Manufacture, receive, distribute, train.
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