No FFG(X) protest, work to begin

Under government contracting rules, non-winning bidders have a designated time limit to protest a decision, to the Government Accountability Office, if they feel the contracting office made a poor decision in evaluating bids against the requirements. There have been no protests filed over the Navy’s award to Fincantieri for a detail design and construction contract for the FFG(X) new-frigate program, clearing the way for work to begin, Navy officials confirmed. The protest window ended June 1, according to Naval Sea Systems Command spokesperson Alan Baribeau. None of the three losing bidders - among them Huntington Ingalls of Pascagoula, Miss., and Austal USA of Mobile, Ala. - protested the decision. HII-Pascagoula spokesperson Teckie Hinkebein, channeling the May 7 words of HII CEO Mike Petters, told USNI News that the shipyard is “disappointed that our highly capable ship was not selected, which includes our extensive experience in building, integrating and testing highly complex warships across numerous ship classes,” she said. But added that the process the Navy used was a useful one. Austal USA declined to comment on the competition and its decision not to protest. Austal’s bid was based on its Independence-variant Littoral Combat Ship. The third yard, Bath (Maine) Iron Works, submitted a bid with partner Navantia based on the Spanish F100 frigate. HII has not disclosed there submitted bid, or what parent design it was based on. (Source: USNI News 06/03/20) https://news.usni.org/2020/06/03/navy-receives-no-protests-over-ffgx-frigate-award-to-fincantieri-detail-design-process-begins Previously from this site: https://gulfcoastshipbuilding.blogspot.com/2020/05/hii-disappointed-over-ffgx-loss.html