WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Raytheon Co on Tuesday said it had filed formal protests against the U.S. Navy's plan to skip a competition and pursue sole-source contracts with Lockheed Martin Corp for the modernization of its ship-based Aegis combat system.
The Navy recently gave notice that it intends to award sole-source contracts for the modernization work, which budget documents say could amount to $13.6 billion over the next five years, after years of assuring RAYTHEON (RTN.NY)and other companies that it would allow them to compete for the work.
"Raytheon believes that an open competition with transparency is essential to affordable U.S. naval superiority. We filed this protest as a course of last resort, and are hopeful for an outcome that will benefit the U.S. Navy and those that use our systems," said spokeswoman Anne Marie Squeo.
She said the Waltham, Massachusetts-based company had filed the protests on Monday with the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the nonpartisan congressional agency which rules on federal contract disputes.
Raytheon said the government had opted to procure the Aegis modernizations through sole-source awards, without offering any explanation for its actions.
The U.S. Navy declined comment, saying it never discussed contract protests.
Raytheon recently also lost out on potential combat-system work for the DDG-1000 destroyers, after the Navy decided to halt that program after building just three of the new warships, instead of the seven that were planned.
Initially, the Navy planned to halt the DDG-1000 destroyer program, for which Raytheon is building the combat system, after two ships, but it agreed to build a third ship under pressure from lawmakers, including some from Raytheon's home state of Massachusetts.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal-Esa; Editing by Gary Hill)
