Justification and Approval (J&A) Summary

This is a Justification and Approval (J&A) document for other than full and open competition issued by the Missile Defense Agency (MDA), Department of Defense, for a follow-on contract with Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (NGSC) under J&A No. 23-0001-01, approved May 20, 2025. The authority for this sole-source award is 10 U.S.C. 3204(b)(B), implemented through FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii)(A), citing substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition. The contracting activity is the Test and Targets Contracting Office within the Targets and Countermeasures Program Office. The authority to act under this class justification expires August 31, 2035.

NGSC is the sole contractor capable of providing Flight Test Support services for the Targets and Countermeasures program due to its unique technical qualifications, proprietary hardware and software components, and exclusive access to the Technical Data Package (TDP) necessary for the highly specialized and complex activity. The contractor possesses tools, experience, and accumulated corporate knowledge developed at private expense over the existing IRBM/ICBM contract. Award to any other source would require re-engineering of proprietary components and development of specialized tools, resulting in substantial cost duplication and unacceptable delays in mission execution. Market research confirmed that without the TDP, no other sources can fully meet requirements without substantial duplication of cost and unacceptable delays. NGSC has an acceptable Small Business Subcontracting Plan. Fair and reasonable pricing will be ensured through formal proposal submission, thorough evaluation of NGSC's cost and technical approach, and analysis by experienced technical analysts and contracting personnel with support from the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) and Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA), utilizing historical data from prior Targets and Countermeasures contracts.