Lockheed Martin files lawsuit on JLTV project, source says new info available

Lockheed Martin officials said Thursday (Dec. 17) the company has moved forward with a federal lawsuit after the U.S. General Accounting Office’s decision earlier this week to throw out the defense giant’s protest of the highly-sought after $30 billion Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) Pentagon contract award that went to rival Oshkosh Defense.

The lawsuit comes one day after a defense industry source revealed to Talk Business & Politics that the U.S. Army recently came forward with “a large volume of previously undisclosed documents not produced prior to the GAO hearing that would have materially affected the case, including the testimony and cross-examination of government witnesses.”

Lockheed filed its initial protest with GAO on Sept. 8, challenging “various aspects” of the federal agency’s evaluation and source selection process concerning the highly sought after contract awarded to Oshkosh Defense on Aug. 25. Since then, the Bethesda, Md.-based defense giant has submitted two supplemental protests to address concerns regarding the GAO’s evaluation of Lockheed Martin’s original offer to build its version of the JLTV at the company’s industrial site in East Camden, Ark.

According to the GAO docket, Lockheed Martin filed a Notice of Post-Award Bid Protest with the United States Court of Federal Claims on Dec. 11.

“The notice stated that Lockheed will file a protest with the Court on or about Dec. 17 and Lockheed has further stated that such protest will involve the same subject matter as the protests filed with our office,” wrote Susan Poling, GAO general counsel.

Poling said the GAO would not decide a protest where the matter involved is the subject of litigation before a court of “competent jurisdiction.”

“Based on Lockheed’s submission of its Notice to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims stating its intent to file a protest with the Court involving the same subject matter as the protests pending before our Office, we are closing our files without further action,” Poling wrote in the GAO’s two-page decision dismissing Lockheed’s protest.

On Thursday, Lockheed Martin made good on its threat.

“After careful consideration of all options, Lockheed Martin decided to file a complaint with the Court of Federal Claims concerning our Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV) contract award process. We look forward to working with all parties involved on the next steps,” the company said in a statement.

On the previous day, a source familiar with the situation told Talk Business & Politics that Lockheed Martin believes the decision by the GAO did not take into account the additional data and important facts the U.S. Army has now come forward with in the GAO protest by the nation’s largest defense contractor.

“The volume of documents and data that was provided too late to be considered was a larger quantity than all of the other materials and data previously provided to Lockheed Martin during the protest period combined,” the source said.

The industry source said the U.S. Army documents contained information that the Lockheed Martin officials believe “constitute additional grounds for protest on the JLTV program,” and will provide additional data that will address positions taken by government witnesses before the GAO.

Pentagon officials did not respond to request for comments on this story, but the U.S. Army on Tuesday lifted the stop work order and instructed Oshkosh to resume work on the JLTV contract after the GAO dismissed Lockheed Martin’s protest. Immediately afterward, Oshkosh officials said the Wisconsin-based defense contractor will begin work on the first phase of the Pentagon contract that award $6.7 billion to Oshkosh’s production to manufacture the first 17,000 of the armored vehicles for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps as a weapon against roadside bombs and IEDs.

In response to Lockheed Martin’s federal lawsuit, GAO spokesman Charles Young said the federal agency allowed the government’s bid protest statutes concerning the “new information” that the U.S. Army brought forward.

“Under the statute, we could have considered a supplemental protest, if Lockheed Martin wanted additional information considered. But they chose not to file one,” Young said.

Lockheed Martin officials refused to comment for this story. However, just ahead of the contract award to Oshkosh in late August, the company produced eight company-funded JLTV prototypes, or Production Representative Vehicles (PRVs), at its Camden production facility. The company has not provided any details on whether or not the JLTV production team has been mothballed.

The nation’s largest defense contractor had already spent millions to upgrade the Camden JLTV operations, which company officials called a “perfect facility” specifically engineered to produce a modern battlefield ready, all-terrain vehicle for the U.S. military that meets the Pentagon’s requirement for “a lightweight, highly-mobile, net-ready” prototype.

Anticipating the possible winning of the JLTV award, Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R)signed into law legislation approved during a special session that would have set aside $87 billion in bond financing to help the defense contractor create and retain hundreds of jobs in south Arkansas.