GAO Denies Protest, Gives Northrop Nod for BAMS
Published: 14 Aug
The U.S. Navy's decision to give Northrop Grumman the contract to build a new unmanned surveillance aircraft was upheld Aug. 8 by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), which denied a protest filed by Lockheed Martin.
The decision clears the way for Northrop to begin work on the RQ-4N Global Hawk Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) aircraft.
The Navy announced its selection April 22, choosing Northrop over proposals from Lockheed Martin-General Atomics and Boeing-Gulfstream. The system development and demonstration contract initially is worth $1.16 billion, but the service plans to buy more than five dozen aircraft, priced at about $55 million apiece.......