00391 Sole Source Justification Revised_Redacted.pdf

August 2020

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES (SAP) FAR 13.106-1(b)

SOLICITATIONS MAY BE LIMITED TO ONE SOURCE ONLY IF THE CONTRACTING OFFICER DETERMINES THAT ONLY ONE SOURCE IS REASONABLY AVAILABLE. THIS DETERMINATION MUST BE SUPPORTED WITH FULL JUSTIFICATION FOR SOLE SOURCE FROM THE CUSTOMER. WHEN THE CUSTOMER DESCRIBES AN ITEM WITH A PURCHASE DESCRIPTION WHICH LIMITS THE AVAILABILITY TO ONE SOURCE, THE JUSTIFICATION MUST EXPLAIN WHY THE ITEM IS THE ONLY ONE THAT WILL MEET THE GOVERNMENT’S REQUIREMENT. STATEMENTS SUCH AS "ONLY KNOWN SOURCE" OR "ONLY SOURCE WHICH CAN MEET THE REQUIRED DELIVERY DATE" ARE INADEQUATE TO

SUPPORT A SOLE SOURCE PURCHASE.

PURCHASE REQUEST OR REQUISITION

NUMBER

52800PR230000391

PROJECT/TASK

NUMBER

DSC Support

R21AK

ESTIMATED AMOUNT (Over Micro- Purchase Threshold, but up to the SAT)

IDENTIFICATION OF THE AGENCY AND THE CONTRACTING OFFICE, AND SPECIFIC IDENTIFICATION OF THE DOCUMENT AS A “JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION.” PLEASE CITE THE

AUTHORITY AND TYPE OF JUSTIFICATION.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), United States Coast Guard (USCG), Command Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber and Intelligence Service Center (C5ISC) and the Contracting Office, CG-

9142-2 located in Kearneysville, WV, prepared this memorandum as a Justification for Other Than Full and

Open Competition.

This requirement is being procured in accordance with FAR 13.106-1(b).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED, AND THE INTENDED USE.

The USCG requires the continued acquisition of adaptive, preventative, and corrective software/hardware lifecycle maintenance support services on the USCG Shore Base VHF DSC GMDSS. Lifecycle maintenance support services for the USCG VHF DSC system are required to maintain system performance, availability, security, and governmental compliance changes.

UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS THAT LIMIT AVAILABILITY TO ONLY ONE SOURCE, WITH THE REASON NO OTHER

SUPPLIES OR SERVICES CAN BE USED.

The R21AK DSC system is based on the ICS V4 Marine Communication System that is designed, manufactured, and supported by ICS Electronics Ltd. The United States Coast Guard (USCG) shore based Very High

Frequency Digital Selective Calling (VHF DSC) system in Alaska is a long range communication system used to meet one of the USCGs monitoring/response missions. VHF DSC is part of the Global Maritime Distress and

Safety System (GMDSS) used to monitor distress calls from Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) convention ships.

The United States is a signatory nation of the SOLAS convention and is required, under treaty with the

International Maritime Organization (IMO) of the United Nations, to monitor the DSC distress frequencies throughout the state of Alaska. The DSC system is a sub-system of the larger Rescue-21 Alaska VHF system that monitors many VHF channels for distress or command and control efforts. ICS Electronics Ltd is the Original

Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and the only company with the System and Software proprietary data rights to maintain the successful maintenance changes to the VHF DSC system. ICS Electronics is currently in use on all three variants of Rescue 21. No other company can provide the support to maintain current operations of the

Rescue 21 system.

A DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS MADE TO ENSURE THAT QUOTATIONS OR OFFERS ARE SOLICITED FROM AS MANY

POTENTIAL SOURCES AS PRACTICABLE (INCLUDE YOUR MARKET RESEARCH EFFORTS HERE).

Market Research determined that it would be cost prohibitive to the USCG to develop a new system that will meet the Rescue 21 DSC system requirements. ICS Electronics is currently in use on all three variants of Rescue 21. No other company can provide the support to maintain current operations of the Rescue 21 system.

REASON THAT SUGGESTED SOURCE IS THE ONLY SOURCE WHICH CAN PROVIDE THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES.

ICS Electronics Ltd is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and only company with the proprietary data rights to successfully maintain and make needed maintenance changes to the VHF DSC system (e.g. governmental compliance changes, corrective maintenance, and component obsolescence component replacements) to keep the system operational.

August 2020

EXPLAIN WHY AN ADEQUATE PURCHASE DESCRIPTION OR OTHER INFORMATION SUITABLE TO SOLICIT BY FULL

AND OPEN COMPETITION HAS NOT BEEN DEVELOPED OR ARE NOT AVAILABLE.

Other than the incumbent, ICS Electronics Ltd.., no other sources have expressed written interest in this acquisition in response to the efforts made while conducting the Market Research and no response inquiries to the posted APFS, The equipment/software of subject requirement is proprietary to ICS.

PROVIDE A STATEMENT OF ACTIONS, IF ANY, THE GOVERNMENT MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY

BARRIERS TO COMPETITION BEFORE FUTURE ACQUISITIONS ARE REQUIRED.

The VHF DSC system lifecycle is expected to be ending within the next five (5) to ten (10) years. This is due to current receivers and other peripherals are no longer made or supported. The Government will continue to pursue alternate sources in the future to overcome and barriers to competition.