Boeing Company and Lockheed Martin have filed a formal complaint, protesting the awarding of the Long Range Strike-Bomber (LRS-B) contract to Northrop Grumman, according to a press release issued by Boeing.
The two companies are asking the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review the decision to award the contract.
Boeing said in the press release that they and Lockheed have concluded that the process of selecting the company to award the contract of the LRS-B was fundamentally flawed.
They said that the government didn't properly reward the contractors' proposals to break the increasing cost of defense acquisition with their cost evaluation.
Boeing adds that the government also didn't properly evaluate the comparative risk of the competitor's ability to perform.
The evaluation is also required by the solicitation.
Forbes adds that the U.S. Air Force (USAF) debriefed Boeing and Lockheed on October 30, 2015, regarding why their proposal wasn't chosen.
J. Michael Luttig, Boeing's general counsel, led a team of lawyers to review the USAF's process of awarding the contract.
Forbes adds that the team came to a conclusion that there were grounds for challenging the award.
Luttig was also a former federal judge.
Forbes adds that the last time Boeing challenged an error in the selection process where Northrop was the rival bidder was when they competed for the new Air Force tanker contract.
The GAO sided with Boeing on that challenge.
Reuters adds that under federal law, the GAO, which is an arm of Congress that rules on federal contract protests, has 100 days to evaluate the issue.
The GAO said that the ruling of the protest was due on February 16, 2016.
Randy Belote, the vice president of strategic communications at Northrop, told Reuters that they are disappointed that their competitors protested.
"Northrop Grumman Corporation is disappointed that its former LRS-B competitors have decided to disrupt a program that is so vital to national security," he said.
Reuters adds that the USAF is confident their source selection team has "followed a deliberate, disciplined and impartial process."
The USAF awarded the contract to develop and build the LRS-B to Northrop last week.
