A02 - Redacted LSJ SAFE SQuASH.pdf

Control No: JA-20-Adel-124

Contractor: Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA)

Supply/Service: AJEM support

JUSTIFICATION REVIEW DOCUMENT

FAR 8.405-6 LIMITED SOURCES JUSTIFICATION

UNDER THE GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION

FEDERAL SUPPLY PROGRAM

Programs/Equipment: The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Lethality, Survivability and HSI (LSH) of the Data and Analysis Center (DAC), Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC) requires Modular Unix-based Vulnerability Estimation Suite Stochastic Analysis of Fragment Effects (SAFE) and Stochastic Quantitative Analysis of System Hierarchies (SQuASH) models (MUVES) code suite software development support.

Authority: Title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41U.S.C. 251, et. Seq) and Title 40 U.S.C 501, Services for Executive Agencies, as implemented by FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B), “Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.”

Amount: $351,360.00

Prepared by: Penny Willard DSN: 298-7233 Program Coordinator Date: 27 Feb 2020 Email: penny.t.willard.civ@mail.mil

Contracting Officer: Joseph Dellinger DSN: 290-0769 Contracting Officer Date: 27 Feb 2020 Email: joseph.m.dellinger2.civ@mail.mil

Technical: Penny Willard DSN: 298-7233 Program Coordinator Date: 27 Feb 2020 Email: penny.t.willard.civ@mail.mil

Requirements: David Payne DSN: 298-3961 Branch Chief Date: 27 Feb 2020 Email: david.r.payne.civ@mail.mil

Reviews: I have reviewed this justification and find it adequate to support limiting competition.

Program Manager:

mailto:penny.t.willard.civ@mail.mil mailto:joseph.m.dellinger2.civ@mail.mil mailto:penny.t.willard.civ@mail.mil mailto:david.r.payne.civ@mail.mil

3/4/2020

X Penny T. Willard

Program Manager

Signed by: WILLARD.PENNY.T.1282391488

FAR 8.405-6 Limited Sources Justification Under the General Services Administration

Federal Supply Schedule Program

1. Contracting Activity: Adelphi Contracting Division, Army Contracting Command- Aberdeen Proving Ground (ACC-APG), 2800 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi, MD 20783

2. Description of Action: The U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) Lethality, Survivability and HSI (LSH) of the Data and Analysis Center (DAC), Combat Capabilities

Development Command (CCDC) requests a task order modification to Firm Fixed Price

– Level of Effort (FFP-LOE) task order W911QX-16-F-0013 under the General Services

Administration (GSA) Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) Program with Applied Research

Associates, Inc. (ARA) 4300 San Mateo Blvd. NE STE A-220 Albuquerque, NM 87110-

1295. The Government will execute this action against FSS contract GS-00F-341CA.

Projected award is March 2020 and fiscal year 2019/2020 and 2020/2021, Research, Development, Test and Evaluation (RDT&E) funds will be used.

An acquisition plan is not required because this procurement does not meet the threshold at Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 207.103(d)(i)(B).

3. Description of Supplies/Services:

The base order under contract W911QX-16-F-0013, requires commercial software development expertise for the MUVES code suite. This includes the Fast Air Target Encounter PENetration (FATEPEN) module, which is critical to the ballistic Survivability, Lethality, Vulnerability (SLV) analysis process that is the tri-service (Army, Air Force, Navy/Marines) standard for predicting penetration of ballistic threats into materiel targets, specifically for the Joint Technical Coordinating Group for Munitions Effectiveness (JTCG/ME) and the Lethality and Weapons Effectiveness Branch of the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Dahlgren Division (NSWC/DD). FATEPEN is an integral part of MUVES, which compiles and links to the code suite in order to compute fragment penetration of targets testing within the Advanced Joint Effectiveness Model (AJEM) for CCDC DAC’s research and development of the suite for Army systems.

The subject modification requires an increase in the level of effort (LOE), in the form of adding one (1) Full Time Equivalent (FTE) with a total increase of 2,880 hours, in order to allow the DAC to remedy and complete a backlog of analyst software testing that is causing major delays for all programs that utilize said testing to support the Artillery Branch within the DAC to verify munitions effects analyses to the most current version of AJEM. This modification will not alter the current period of performance (PoP).

As a result of this modification, the ceiling of CLIN 0013 (PoP of 1 July 2019 – 30 June 2020) will increase by $115,200.00 from $1,072,819.26 to $1,188,019.26. This modification will also increase the ceiling of CLIN 0017 (PoP of 1 July 2020 – 30 June 2021) by $236,160.00 from $1,104,997.63 to $1,341,157.63. The contract’s total ceiling will increase by $351,360 as a result of this modification. These changes are outlined in the table below:

Previous Ceiling

Ceiling increase via Modification

New Ceiling

Option Period

3 (CLIN 0013)

$1,072,819.26 $115,200.00 $1,188,019.26

Option Period

4 (CLIN 0017)

$1,104,997.63 $236,160.00 $1,341,157.63

Totals $2,177,816.89 $351,360.00 $2,529,176.89

4. Authority Cited:

Title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41U.S.C. 251,

et. Seq) and Title 40 U.S.C 501, Services for Executive Agencies, as implemented by FAR 8.405-6 and substantiated by the following:

FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B). Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized.

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

This Limited Sources Justification (LSJ) is provided in order to document the Government’s decision to solicit only ARA, Inc. for the required increase in level of effort to the subject order. The required increase in level of effort is due to a backlog of SCRs that require analyst testing. To date, the order does not have enough hours or FTEs to fulfill the original requirement and the newly required increase of effort to process the outstanding SCRs that compiled due to an influx of requests from multiple programs that utilize MUVES. Specifically, the Artillery Branch requires additional support with testing current SCRs and assistance in updating and verifying munitions effect analyses using AJEM. The Government continues to have a need for software development expertise for the MUVES code suite and the only Contractor available that can provide immediate continuation of services with no stoppage is the current Contractor, ARA, Inc. ARA, Inc.

has a unique background, skillset, and familiarity with the hardware, software and current

ARL laboratory facilities and is licensed by the NSWC/DD to configure the source code of the MUVES and, specifically, the FATEPEN module. MUVES is used for conducting the ballistic analyses that are provided to material developers, system evaluators, and senior decision makers at the Departments of Army and Defense (DoA and DoD).

To date, the only contractor that has the required knowledge of the MUVES and FATEPEN code is ARA, Inc. due to their efficient and effective model development derived from their background knowledge in code development. The required services require in-depth knowledge of not only how FATEPEN works but there is a need to know of the systematic function along with knowing the rationale behind how FATEPEN was developed and what data was utilized (and why that data is appropriate) in the development of the model. ARA, Inc. is uniquely qualified to provide this knowledge to the Government as it has provided extensive development of the code under the previous task order, W911QX-11-F-0054, and the current task order, W911QX-16-F- 0013, which is continuing the development of the code. Furthermore, ARA, Inc. is the only Contractor that has received the required approval from NSWC/DD to use FATEPEN and they are not allowed to distribute FATEPEN without express written approval by NSWC/DD.

The risk associated with adopting new outside contractors that do not know the inert operative functions of MUVES, and given the eight (8) years of Government investment with ARA, Inc., is high and would jeopardize and cause delays in the Army’s primary mission of SLV analysis for materiel developers, test and evaluation, and Army and DoD decision makers. In addition, due to the steep learning curve at the current stage of development with MUVES, acquiring another Contractor would require a large amount of Government resources in the form of duplicative costs requiring additional Government oversight, technical direction, and time spent providing training to ensure that all systems and support are fully operational. It is estimated that a loss of up to $15,000,000.00 could potentially impact the tri-service community if there was a delay or stoppage in this research and would also impact DACs reputation within the tri-service community as the Army‘s focal point for SLV analysis and expertise. In addition to the monetary loss, using another Contractor would delay research for at least two (2) years to allow the new Contractor time to familiarize themselves with MUVES/FATEPEN and probably would be much longer than that due to a new Contractor needing to obtain approval from NWSC/DD to use FATEPEN. ARA currently has the necessary trained personnel to fulfill the requirements without any downtime and can continue with development by analyzing the backlogged SCRs which are essential for the research conducted under this program. Should the delay caused by the backlog of SCRs continue, DAC will not be able to complete their technical programs on schedule or provide deliverables that other organizations are awaiting in order to complete the tri-service programs.

Based on the aforementioned, it is in the Government’s best interest for this requirement to be pursued on a sole source basis pursuant to FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) “Only one source is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized” due to the knowledge and skill of MUVES/FATEPEN that ARA, Inc. possesses as well as being the only known vendor that has the required access to FATEPEN to conduct the required ballistic analyses.

6. Actions to Increase Competition:

ARA, Inc. has a unique background, skillset, and familiarity with the existing hardware, software as well as current ARL laboratory facilities and is licensed by the NSWC/DD to configure the source code of the MUVES and, specifically, the FATEPEN module.

MUVES is used for conducting the ballistic analyses that are provided to material developers, system evaluators, and senior decision makers at the Departments of Army and Defense (DoA and DoD). ARA also has the necessary trained personnel to fulfill the rqeuirements without risking any downtime which would result in a significant cost to the Governmet. If another vendor was identified and had the capabilities to fulfill the Government’s requirement, the time and funding needed to familiarize staff with the MUVES/FATEPEN systems would present a substantial duplication of cost.

Furthermore, the delay caused by pursuing another vendor would prohibit DAC from completing their technical programs on schedule and would inhibit them from providing deliverables that other organizations require in order to complete the tri-service program.

Based on the aforementioned, as well as additional information provided in section five

(5) above, competition for this action is not feasible as no other sources are capable of providing seamless support; however any future service contract requests will include new market research for the services required. This will include posting a sources sought synopsis as a mechanism to expose the requirement and determine if any new companies have gained access to, or expanded their expertise in MUVES and FATEPEN. In addition to the market research noted in section 7, the Government will continue to contact NSWC/DD to inquire what requirements are needed for any other source to gain access to MUVES and FATEPEN and continue to search the Internet and GSA website to locate other potential sources for MUVES/FATEPEN development services. As MUVES and FATEPEN matures, the Government expects to release new versions of MUVES, to include FATEPEN, for various uses such that other contractors may be able to gain the detailed and in-depth knowledge that will permit competition in future procurements. Although some aspects of MUVES are currently available for distribution to the public, FATEPEN remains limited to only ARA (reference A07 – Miscellaneous Documentation (Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) in file). Distribution of FATEPEN is solely limited to U.S. Federal Government Agencies and their contractors.

FATEPEN software is unable to be released nor disclosed to third parties and it may not be redistributed or transferred without written authorization from the NSWC/DD.

However, the enhancement of this program through the services to be provided under this requirement will allow SLAD to further develop and prepare a more complete technical data package to include an advanced version of MUVES and FATEPEN for a competitive procurement. The FATEPEN code is currently not releasable to industry due to the current development of the module, which is in its early stages of development.

The nature of battlefield threats and the magnitude of analyses from those threats is constantly shifting and those variables must be built into the code. Releasing the code to industry prematurely will not realize any competitive benefit nor would ARA gain a competitive advantage by continuing the development of FATEPEN.

7. Market Research:

Market Research was completed by Penny Willard, Operations Research Analyst for LSH with 11 years of experience. Market research was conducted from December 2019

- January 2020 by viewing pricing and services of similar GSA companies and calculating the essential time and costs needed to train personnel in MUVES Development and related SLV analysis codes such as: ORCA, FATEPEN, BRL-CAD, Projectile Penetration (PROJPEN), etc. in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(c)(2)(vi).

FATEPEN code is a necessary support mechanism to the tri-service community.

Currently, no other contractor except ARA, Inc. has access to FATEPEN and therefore outside sources are unable to adequately supply the current skills, experience, and expertise required to perform the modeling and methodology development that is needed to perform the required tasks or be able to expand upon the FATEPEN code required to conduct certain ballistic penetration scenarios in MUVES. Continuity in service is crucial in order to meet near and long-term DoD support requirements and therefore a sole source procurement is in the best interest of the Government in terms of technical quality, efficiency, time and cost. DAC will continue to work with NSWC/DD to build a technical data package and inquire about the requirements for allowing other vendors access to FATEPEN which will allow other vendors to gain the required expertise to meet potential future Government requirements in this area and allow for a possible competitive procurement.

8. Other Facts:

a. Procurement History:

Contract: W911QX-11-F-0054 Contractor: ARA, Inc.

Award Date: 30 June 2011 Period of Performance: 01 July 2011 - 01 July 2016 Dollar Value: $3,978,313.46 Competitive Status: Competitive

Contract: W911QX-16-F-0013 Contractor: ARA, Inc.

Award Date: 01 July 2016 Period of Performance: 01 July 2016 – 30 June 2021 (if the Government decides to exercise the final option of the order) Dollar Value: $4,991,823.44

Competitive Status: Sole Source Authority: FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(C) “In the interest of economy and efficiency, the new work is a logical follow-on to an original Federal Supply Schedule order provided that the original order was placed in accordance with applicable Federal Supply Schedule ordering procedures. The original order or BPA must not have been previously issued under sole-source or limited-sources procedures.”

9. Technical Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signer’s Title: Program Coordinator

3/4/2020

X Penny T. Willard

Technical Certifier (Tech)

Signed by: WILLARD.PENNY.T.1282391488

10. Requirements Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Signer’s Title: Branch Chief

X

Requirements Certifier

11. Best Value Determination/Fair and Reasonable Cost Determination: I hereby determine that the modification represents the best value to the Government in accordance with FAR 8.405-6(c)(2)(v). Additionally, I hereby determine that the anticipated cost or price to the Government for this contract action will be fair and reasonable.

This determination will be made using the following:

_X_ Price analysis

_X_ IGCE

_X_ Other: Detailed documentation and justification of cost/price reasonableness will be disclosed in the official contract file to include a published price list, and comparison of the proposed price with prices found reasonable on previous purchases. Cost or Pricing data is not required, in accordance with the threshold at FAR 15.403-4(a)(1).

3/3/2020

X Joseph Dellinger

Contracting Officer (KO)

Signed by: DELLINGER.JOSEPH.M.1456820650

12. Contracting Officer Certification: I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Approval

Based on the foregoing justification, I hereby approve the procurement of Modular Unix-based Vulnerability Estimation Suite Stochastic Analysis of Fragment Effects (SAFE) and Stochastic Quantitative Analysis of System Hierarchies (SQuASH) models (MUVES) code suite software development support, for an estimate of $351,360.00 with no change to the current period of performance due to expire on 30 June 2021 if all options are exercised, under Title III of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (41 U.S.C. 251, et Seq.) and Title 40 U.S.C 501, Services for Executive Agencies, as implemented by FAR 8.405-6(a)(1)(i)(B) subject to availability of funds, and provided that the services or supplies herein described have otherwise been authorized for acquisition.

(End of LSJ)