Anduril Won Half of DHS’s $1.5 Billion Drone-Defense Vehicle. It Wants the Other Half.
Anduril won the services track of DHS’s $1.5 billion, five-year counter-UAS vehicle and missed the hardware track. It protested at GAO on August 12. A decision is due November 20.
Anduril won a seat on the Homeland Security Department’s new $1.5 billion counter-unmanned aircraft systems vehicle. It did not win both seats. The company was selected as a comprehensive service provider on track two and was left off track one, the hardware, software, and ancillary services lane. That split is now a protest.
Washington Technology reported the challenge on August 14. Anduril filed at the Government Accountability Office on August 12. A decision is due by November 20.
One Vehicle, Two Tracks
DHS awarded the five-year C-UAS contract earlier this month. The vehicle is split by function. Track one is hardware, software, and ancillary services. Track two is reserved for comprehensive service providers. Companies were allowed to bid both.
Anduril pursued both tracks. It landed only the services award, then took the hardware miss to GAO.
Who Else Is On the Roster
The track one winners are BAE Systems, CACI International, Dedreone Defense, D-Fend Solutions, EMS Defense Technologies, Fortem Technologies, and Leidos.
Anduril’s track two field is Astrion, BAE, Booz Allen Hamilton, General Dynamics IT, Leidos, and Parsons. Anduril is the seventh name on that list.
For investors who follow the listed primes, the competitive set is familiar. BAE, CACI, Leidos, GDIT, and Booz Allen all sit on at least one track of the vehicle. Anduril remains private. The protest does not create a ticker. It does put a private company into a public dispute with the services names already on the award.
A Crowded Field
DHS received 57 offers for track one and selected seven winners. It received 47 offers for track two and selected seven again.
That is a hard cut on both sides of the vehicle. Most of the field missed both lanes, even though bidders could pursue one track or both.
What Anduril Is Asking For
Anduril is challenging DHS’s evaluation of its proposal. The company argues it should have received awards on both tracks of the five-year vehicle, not only the services half.
The protest as reported does not include a bid score. DHS has not published a dollar split between the two tracks. The $1.5 billion figure is the value of the whole vehicle. It is not a published allotment for hardware versus services, and it is not a booking for any single winner.
What November 20 Decides
GAO has until November 20 to rule. Until then the posted award stands: Anduril is on the services track and off the hardware track.
If GAO sustains the protest, DHS would have to revisit the track one decision. If it denies, the current seven-and-seven roster remains. The listed primes already on the vehicle keep those seats unless the agency reopens the competition.
For a private company, the protest is about access. Hardware and software is the product lane. Services is the work that follows the product. Anduril wants both halves of the $1.5 billion vehicle.
