B8 - Redacted Sole Source Justification.pdf

MEMORANDUM

Subj: SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION MEMORANDUM FOR MINE HUNTING IN

CHALLENGING ENVIRONEMTN PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT ACOUSTIC

COMMUNICATIONS EXPERIMENT SUPPORT

1. Identification of the agency and the contracting activity, and specific identification of the document as a “Sole Source Justification.”

This is a sole source justification. Contracting activity is NSWC-PCD, Code 024, 110 Vernon Ave., Panama City, FL, 32407.

2. Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This action will award a firm fixed price contract to DelResearch for the support listed in Paragraph 3.

3. A description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value).

Support and participation in MHCE Experimentation in FY24-25 to include the following

(BASE):

Experiment planning support and execution support, Providing supporting testing hardware, Data collection

The Government shall have the following OPTIONS:

OPTION 1: Peer-reviewed journal paper presentation at conference in Singapore.

OPTION 2: Analysis and supporting report for the information obtained in the experiment performed in the BASE portion of the Contract.

This acquisition will be conducted using simplified acquisition procedures with a total estimated value greater than $25,000. The Government's minimum needs have been verified by the certifying technical and requirements personnel. This memo does not authorize acquisition for other requirements. This purchase will be funded with reimbursable funds provided by the Navy International Programs Office (NIPO).

4. Identification of the justification rationale and, if applicable, a demonstration of the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications to provide the required supply or service. 10 U.S.C. 2304(c) - Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, FAR 6.302-1.

The Mine Hunting in Challenging Environments Participation Agreement (MHCE PA) between the U.S and Singapore has conducted joint experimentations to advance Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) – based mine hunting in complex undersea environments such as the straits of Singapore. DelResearch developed the Popoto acoustic modems that were used for experiments performed in July 2022 in the Singapore Straights under Navy contract N6133122P0127. As they are the OEM for the modem used, they were determined to be the most knowledgeable source for the testing support using those modems under that contract.

In addition, Delresearch has provided additional experimentation support on N6133123P0112.

The tasking required for this effort is in addition to the research that was performed on the aforementioned contract. Only DelResearch has the knowledge and experience with both their proprietary modems and experiments that they participated in.

As such, the government does not expect significant savings through competition and it is more advantageous to the Government to award on a sole source basis to the DelResearch for the item(s) listed in Paragraph 3 of this document.

5. A determination by the ordering activity contracting officer that the order represents the best value consistent with FAR 13.106-1(b).

The Contracting Officer has determined that the order represents the best value and results in the lowest overall cost alternative (considering price, special features, administrative costs, etc.) to meet the Government’s needs.

6. A description of the market research conducted among schedule holders and the results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted.

For the reasons specified in paragraph 4 above, DelResearch is the only source that can meet the Government’s needs. This requirement will be synopsized in the government point of entry sam.gov because it is estimated greater than $25,000.00.

7. Any other facts supporting the justification.

None.

8. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers that led to the restricted consideration before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services is made.

As stated in paragraph 4 above, DelResearch is the only source that can meet this requirement.