1.24 Justification and Approval-EA-18G1_Redacted.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

NAVSUP FLEET LOGISTICS CENTER SAN DIEGO

REGIONAL CONTRACTS DEPARTMENT

3985 CUMMINGS ROAD

SAN DIEGO CA 92136-4200

IN REPLY REFER TO:

22-250-0005

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. IDENTIFICATION OF AGENCY AND CONTRACTING ACTIVITY.

The requiring agency is Operational Test and Evaluation Force (OPTEVFOR), and the Director of Operation Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) as established by U.S.C. title 10 Section 4147, Operational Test and Evaluation of Defense Acquisition Programs. Specifically, Air Test and Evaluation Squadron NINE (VX-9) located at Naval Weapons Station China Lake, CA 93555.

The contracting activity is Naval Supply (NAVSUP) Fleet Logistics Center San Diego (FLCSD) – Seal Beach detachment located at 800 Seal Beach Blvd, Seal Beach, CA, 90740.

2. Description of the Action Being Approved.

Award of a firm fixed price contract on a sole source basis to Zenetex, LLC for continued operational test and evaluation of the EA-18G in accordance with FAR 6.302-1.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

VX-9 is tasked with the Operational Test & Evaluation (OT&E) of all USN/USMC tactical aircraft and associated weapons and avionics acquisition programs. The squadron uses the support of engineering, analytical and technical expertise in order to determine the effectiveness and suitability of existing weapons, equipment and munitions for military use.

Specifically, VX-9 requires OT&E for EA-18G. This effort requires support services to include: Senior Flight Test Engineer (SFTE), Intermediate FTE (IFTE), Data Management (DM), Data Base Administration (DBA), System Administrator (SA), and Reliability, Maintainability and Availability (RM&A), which is not available organically.

These services were previously provided under task order N00244-21-F-0069 which expired 16 June 2022.

Aforesaid task order was awarded from a single Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract N00244-16- D-0004. This contract expired 30 September 2021 and was a hybrid Firm Fixed Price (FFP) and Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) type effort which was competitively solicited on an unrestricted basis via FedBizOps and (4) proposals were submitted. A single award was made using Best Value Procedures to Zenetex Systems Inc.

The anticipated period of performance is 30 September 2022 through 29 September 2023. The cumulative estimated dollar value is . Fiscal Year 2022 Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) funds are provided.

4. Statutory Authority Permitting SOLE SOURCE.

10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1), Only one responsible source.

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority.

Pursuant to FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii), this authority is appropriate when requirement is a follow-on contract for the continued provision of highly specialized services when it is likely that award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition or unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements. Previously awarded contract to Zenetex Systems Inc.

required the contractor to provide analytical, engineering and technical support for OT&E of the Boeing EA-18G Growler. Specifically the OT&E execution and reporting of the operational effectiveness and suitability of H16 and

H18 system updates for integration on the EA-18G platform. At this time, VX-9 requires further development, execution, and reporting using the intelligence gathered under N00244-21-F-0069. Results of these studies are currently employed in subsequent field exercises and research throughout the VX-9 program to make the EA-18G technologies mission ready. The existing RDT&E contractor services and associated expertise cannot be duplicated in the limited amount of time before the next fleet release in December 2022 due to the complexity of the analysis completed to date that a new contractor would have to study and understand, and due to the lengthy test analysis, report writing, and Fleet Brief preparation processes involved in Operational Test.

Substantial duplication of development costs would occur if a follow-on contract is awarded to any other source and those additional costs would not be recouped through competition. The operative database for all analytical studies related to EA-18G is proprietary to the contractor. Though the data could be extracted and is government owned, the processing and formulas present on the proprietary database would be lost. Should the government use a new source, much of the analytical lessons learned will need to be recreated which requires at least (4) months of full time effort by (2) contractor personnel. Without the data required from these additional tests, potential software glitches could remain unknown, creating a flight safety risk for the warfighter.

Duplicative costs might be even higher if there is a need to replace the existing workforce. Training personnel on the OT&E processes and the EA-18G system would be approximately . The cost estimate is derived from the burden rate for either an intermediate test analyst or engineer, and subject matter experts, to be trained. Additionally, training personnel would take a minimum of six months and would result in an unacceptable delay for the release of vital capabilities to the fleet warfighters. Without these capabilities, the Air Wing will become unable deploy in theatre.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Solicit Offers from as Many Offerors as Practicable.

The contracts specialist conducted a sources sought via eSAMs under notice number N00244-22-R-0071 from 18- 24 August 2022. On 24 August 2022, one response was received from the current sub-contractor Core Services Group (CSG). Though CSG does have some of the expertise gained from performance with Zenetex, it lacks the specific knowledge of lessons learned under testing events, which have been ongoing for a year. The time it would require to educate new personnel would result in a substantial duplication of effort and further testing delays.

Additionally, CGS does not have access to the proprietary data developed exclusively by the incumbent. Though the database could ultimately be recreated, the key formulas would be lost. CGS does not possess the ability to mitigate or address the loss of data indicating it may not understand the complexity of transferring information and the significance of such data.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost.

The Contracting Officer has determined the anticipated cost to the Government of the supplies/services covered by this J&A will be fair and reasonable.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition.

The government will continue to evaluate the market place and seek potential sources in later iterations of this requirement. Currently, there are no plans to position these resources organically.

The government is currently re-evaluating its current need for this requirement beyond one year. Should the VX-9 program decide it intends to continue with these support services, it will attempt to competitively award a new task order vehicle.

9. CONTRACTING POINT OF CONTACT

The point of contact at NAVSUP FLC San Diego is Steffany Becker, Code 250, at 619-556-9634 or by e-mail at steffany.becker-puls@navy.mil.

[Insert title of Approving Official. If Senior Procurement Executive of the Navy is the Approving Official, insert, “SENIOR PROCUREMENT EXECUTIVE”] APPROVAL

Upon the basis of the above justification, I hereby approve, as [insert title of the Approving Official], the solicitation of the proposed procurement(s) described herein using other than full and open competition, pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(x)(provide appropriate citation).

[Print Name of Approving Official] Date