The Nation - News from Oct. 22, 1986

The Navy, declaring a new victory in its war against sole-source contracts, said it had relied on competition to award almost three-fourths of its contracts and more than half of its contract dollars in fiscal 1986. According to Rear Adm. Stuart Platt, the Navy was responsible for directly awarding contracts totaling about $44 billion during the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, covering everything from new ships to spare parts to support services at military installations. Of that total, about $23 billion, or more than 52%, of the contract dollars were awarded after competition between two or more firms, he said.