This misses the point. All large DoD contract are usually followed by a lawsuit from the loser. I have seen this happens so many times. If MSFT lost, they would have probably sued.
This comment misses the point. How many other government contracts have the presumed favorite lose after the President made multiple statements saying that he would do everything in his power to screw over the favorite? And AWS losing IS an upset.
I've spent a lot of time around government contracting and this whole bid process was mind-boggling badly handled by the government. The number of conflicts-of-interests involved throughout the process are absurd.
Yes, it is normal. Even small government RFP contracts often have do-overs when losers challenge the results.
I remember when Boeing first was awarded the US Air Force tanker contract. It was soon rescinded for, among other things, fraud. They won the project again the second time around.
Recently, the US Air Force has refused delivery of the tankers because of manufacturing flaws.
More complicated than that. Northrop Grumman and EADS/Airbus in a joint bid won with a more capable platform, it was then redone due to Boeing protesting. In the redo Boeing won.
Comparatively the A330 MRRT, which the first round winning bid was based on entered service June 2011.
I've spent a lot of time around government contracting and this whole bid process was mind-boggling badly handled by the government. The number of conflicts-of-interests involved throughout the process are absurd.