Coulson Aviation (USA) Inc., of Port Alberni, British Columbia, Canada, 10 Tanker Air Carrier, LLC, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Minden Air Corp., of Minden, Nevada, protest the noncompetitive award of contract No. AG-024B-C-14-9000 to Neptune Aviation Services, Inc., of Missoula, Montana, by the Department of Agriculture (USDA), U.S. Forest Service, for next generation (NextGen) large airtanker services for wildland firefighting support. The agency justified the sole-source award under 41 U.S.C. 3304(a)(3)(A) (2006), which provides for a noncompetitive award to a particular source to maintain that supplier for a national emergency or to achieve industrial mobilization. See also Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-3. The protesters argue that the sole-source contract awarded to Neptune, which was promised in exchange for Neptune's withdrawal of an earlier bid protest, is not justified.
We sustain the protests.
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