Contractors bidding on government contracts have to meet the requirements of the RFP (Request for Proposal) or their bid gets rejected early in the process.  If the time frame is very tight, it is the job of the contractor to bid adequate resources and take an approach that can meet the timeline.  If the timeline is so extremely unreasonable that no one can meet it, a wise and ethical contractor would not bid on the job.  The other choice is to rationalize that some contractor is going to get the job and that the project will not end on time.  Whoever wins the bid is going to have a schedule and probably a cost overrun.  The bidders then have to do a risk analysis.  What will happen when it becomes public knowledge that the schedule will not be met?  What will that do to my reputation and financial condition?  A new small company that has no reputation or assets to risk can answer these questions by thinking “we don’t have that much to loose and we will get some cash for working on this job and maybe we can find a way to make it work.” A larger company with significant assets could be less inclined to take such a large risk.  Sometimes, a company may form a special subsidiary with a new name and few assets in order to bid on a contract that is very risky and could lead to lawsuits.