Kinemetrics, Inc. v. United States
21-1626 · cofc · 2021-09-17
Summary
Court of Federal Claims (Lettow, S.J., 2021) post-award protest by Kinemetrics of an Air Force Commercial Solutions Opening (CSO) award, made under OT authority (10 U.S.C. §§ 2371, 2371b), of seismic nuclear-treaty-monitoring equipment to Nanometrics. Distinguishing SpaceX, the court held it had bid-protest jurisdiction because rejection in the CSO evaluation directly disqualified Kinemetrics from the follow-on production (IDIQ) contract the CSO contemplated, making the solicitation "in connection with a procurement"; on the merits, however, it granted the government's motion to dismiss, deferring heavily to the agency's peer-review technical evaluation (treating equipment power-draw as within the disclosed "best approach" factor). It establishes that an OT/CSO award is reviewable when it directly affects a procurement award, subject to high deference to agency technical peer review.