Protest Battle Emerges Over Key Diego Garcia Support Contract

DIEGO GARCIA — Here’s something you’ll want on your radar — there’s a surge in U.S. Defense Department contracting and competitive protests tied to base‑support work on Diego Garcia, a remote but pivotal Indian Ocean military hub, underlining new logistics and construction opportunities that aren’t just routine awards but flashpoints in broader geopolitical and acquisition tensions.

Recent federal procurement records show the U.S. Navy via NAVFAC Pacific awarded an indefinite‑delivery/indefinite‑quantity base operating support contract at Naval Support Facility Diego Garcia, initially ~$85M with a total potential value near $656M to Amentum Mitie Pacific — covering everything from port and air operations to logistics and facilities services with work through the early 2030s.

That award hasn’t gone uncontested: Amentum is moving to intervene in a protest by KBR Diego Garcia LLC over a related logistics support contract worth over $100M, signaling competitive friction for these support scopes. — POC

These contract actions sit against a backdrop of political controversy about the base’s status — ratification of a UK–Mauritius sovereignty deal affecting the British Indian Ocean Territory (including Diego Garcia) has been thrown into uncertainty amid pushback from U.S. policymakers, especially with the base’s strategic role in operations across the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf.

All told, this mix of multi‑year IDIQ and MACC‑like awards, protests, and geopolitical debate around Diego Garcia is shaping up to be fertile ground for contractor competition stories and lead development in base support and logistics in the Indo‑Pacific.