Knowing .Gov bidding and procurement like I did, a contractor already got the nod before the bidding was announced - the announcment is simply to comply with “fair business practices”.
Which means, they already had a timetable that they had to have the equipment sets by, and someone said they could make good.
Someone somewhere knows what and when...
Or it could just be the annoying Health and Safety guys justifying their budget. If they don't spend it this year they won't have it appropriated in next years budget.
The government is great at wasting money on junk no one asked for or needs. They even write regulations making it mandatory spending because no one would order the stuff if they had a choice.