C02 - 07b JA FAR13.5 - Signed 001_Redacted.pdf

J&A Number:

N00167-23-SIMACQ-CD-74-0030

Code: 742 P.R. Number: 1301084895

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

JUSTIFICATION

1. Contracting Activity

The Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division (NSWCCD), Contracting & Acquisitions Department (Code 02).

2. Description of the Action Being Approved

Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division (NSWCCD) Code 7420 supplies to support NSWCCD Instrumentation Radar Installations – both current and future. To support this, NSWCCD requires one AL-4016S Antenna Positioner, one AL- 4018D Antenna Positioner, and one AL-2005-RC Spare Remote- Control Unit (RCU) (Summarized in Table 3-2). This procurement is part of a massive, ongoing, NSWCCD Div. 74 effort to provide reliable, on-demand, high fidelity Radar Cross Section (RCS) measurements to validate modeling and support threat analysis of current and future US Navy platforms. Current NSWCCD Code 7420 radars needs to procure ‘drop-in’ replacement antenna positioners in order to continue to support its mission of supporting the US Navy.

In support of this program, NSWCCD intends to award a firm-fixed price contract to ORBIT Communication Systems, Inc.

(ORBIT CS), the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) for NSWCCD Code 7420’s current Antenna Positioners. This procurement is for replacement Antenna Positioners that are used between NSWCCD Code 7420 current RCS measurement systems.

This justification document is in accordance with FAR 13.501(a).

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER

CARDEROCK DIVISION

9500 MACARTHUR BOULEVARD

WEST BETHESDA MD 20817-5700

J&A Number: N00167-23-SIMACQ-CD-74-0030

1 IAW NMCARS 5206.304(a) If the dollar value of the contract is negotiated at a level that exceeds the dollar threshold of the original justification approval authority, a new justification approval shall be obtained from the appropriate approval authority prior to award.

The total estimated value of the acquisition is approximately

3. Description of Supplies/Services

Table 3-1: Estimated Dollar Value1 FY23 FY24 Totals

SCC

Total

The proposed acquisition is for the purchase of the supplies identified in the table below:

QTY Item Name

Description

1x AL-4016S AL-4016S (Positioner) with cable wrap + RCU + power & ctrl cab

1x AL-4018D AL-4018D (Positioner) with cable wrap + RCU + power & ctrl cab

1x

AL-2005-

RCU

Spare Remote-Control Unit (RC

NSWCCD Code 7420 will integrate the positioners into their existing radar systems; therefore labor is not included in this contract award.

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition

10 U.S.C. §2304(c)(1). “The property or services needed by the agency are available from only one responsible source or only from a limited number of responsible sources and no other type of property or services will satisfy the needs of the agency.” (FAR 13.106-1(b)(2)) a level that exceeds the dollar threshold of the original justification approval authority, a new justification approval shall be obtained from the appropriate approval authority prior to award.

This justification document is in accordance with FAR 13.501(a).

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority

UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS OR NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION

One of NSWCCD Code 7420’s missions is the measurement of the Radio Frequency (RF) Signatures of US Navy platforms in real-world environments around the globe. These measurements require the collection, analysis and assessments of the frequency, amplitude and duration of RF Signatures. Upon completion of these measurements, the data is compared to historical trends and prediction models. The finalized data product is used to inform the sponsor, and ultimately, the warfighter.

To make accurate RF Signature measurements in real-world environments, Code 7420 uses high-precision, ruggedized antenna positioners to find and track targets. The ability to precisely point the radar’s antenna is critical to achieving such measurements.

The antenna positioner is a key component of an instrumentation radar system, and it is a single point of failure for each radar, and by extension NSWCCD Code 7420’s mission, if or when it does fail. NSWCCD Code 7420 supports 5 permanent radar installations in:

1) Virginia Beach, Virginia

2) San Diego, California

3) Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

4) Rota NAS, Spain

5) Yokosuka, Japan as well as operates 2 additional Deployable Signature Measurement Instrumentation radars, which all use the AL-40XX family of ORBIT CS antenna positioners. The requested procurement of additional ORBIT CS antenna a level that exceeds the dollar threshold of the original justification approval authority, a new justification approval shall be obtained from the appropriate approval authority prior to award.

positioners, specifically the AL-4016S and the AL-4018D, serves to supplement NSWCCD’s current inventory of 13 other ORBIT CS antenna positioners used across all radar systems. These new antenna positioners will be a direct replacement for any failures in the field, or provide a source of spare parts to fix an antenna positioner failure. Moving to another family of antenna positioners will jeopardize NSWCCD Code 7420’s spare depth ability to logistically support all its radars across the globe. The challenges NSWCCD Code 7420 faces in supporting 7 different globally deployed instrumentation radars does not allow for a split inventory of different antenna positioners. Antenna positioners must have compatible spare positioners or parts pre-deployed, or on-hand, to fix any failures.

To build an equivalent spare depth of another antenna positioner model would cost upwards of $1.65 million USD

– just to replace the current antenna positioner’s in NSWCCD Code 7420’s inventory. Additionally, there will be a significant effort on the part of the government to refit their globally deployed radar systems. NSWCCD Code 7420 has estimated that deploying, refitting existing antenna positioner inventory would cost upwards of $350,000.00 (in FY2023) per radar installation.

There would be a further, non-reoccurring cost, to rewrite all the Government Off-The-Shelf (GOTS) software that has been written to integrate any new antenna positioner manufacturer. NSWCCD Code 7420 has estimated this to cost an additional (in FY2023) to rewrite all the relevant GOTS software and perform detailed checkouts to insure the software properly integrates each antenna positioner into NSWCCD Code 7420’s instrumentation radar architecture. All of this additional costs would also take time to execute, and could possibly delay or cancel any future quick reaction instrumentation measurements for the US Navy warfighter.

Based on extensive market research and experience with antenna positioners for other NSWCCD projects, NSWCCD a level that exceeds the dollar threshold of the original justification approval authority, a new justification approval shall be obtained from the appropriate approval authority prior to award.

Code 7420 found that the ORBIT CS antenna positioners meet all the technical specifications identified for the best overall cost to the government.

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

NSWCCD Code 7420 researched other antenna positioner manufacturers and found no ‘drop-in’ replacements. No physical examinations/demonstrations of were performed as the other positioners didn’t meet basic requirements, according to their specification sheets. Commercially available positioners have specification sheets available online, and no positioner met the weight, communication, and compatibility requirements. All other antenna positioners offered by other vendors would require extensive changes to each of NSWCCD Code 7420’s instrumentation radar systems, as detailed in Section 5.

NSWCCD Code 7420 has determined that the ORBIT CS family of antenna positioners offer the best solution while minimizing cost and schedule delays for integrating new equipment. These new antenna positioners will work to bolster NSWCCD Code 7420’s inventory of antenna positioners, as well as serve as spares or replacements for any future failures. Any purchase of new antenna positioners must be “drop-in” replacements for NSWCCD Code 7420’s current library of antenna positioners as well as seamlessly integrate into NSWCCD Code 7420’s current GOTS that controls the instrumentation radar systems. This creates a demand that these specific antenna positioners are purchased from ORBIT CS.

Pursuant to FAR 13.501(a)(1)(iii), the Government will make this Justification available on the Government point of entry (SAM.gov), the Government will ensure that the contract file will be documented as to any responses received from making the Justification available.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Costs a level that exceeds the dollar threshold of the original justification approval authority, a new justification approval shall be obtained from the appropriate approval authority prior to award.

In accordance with FAR 13.106-3(a) the Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO) shall ensure that all supplies and services provided under the anticipated contract are procured at a fair and reasonable price.

The Government will require the contractor to submit a formal price proposal and sufficient information to support the accuracy and reliability of the estimate.

The PCO shall determine that the proposed order represents the best value (as defined in FAR 2.101) to meet the Government’s needs. The PCO will also rely on experienced technical experts, as well as information from prior procurements conducted by the Navy where the same (or comparable) devices were procured, when conducting the price analysis. This information will form the basis for a fair and reasonable price.

After performing market research through evaluating the online specification sheets available for commercial positioners, NSWCCD Code 7420 had determined ORBIT CS’s antenna positioners are the only available positioners that fulfill the requirements.

All other antenna positioners are not compatible with current system parts and would require an extensive system redesign to communicate with and effectively integrate into the system. Due to this, other company’s prices were not deemed an acceptable comparison for determining the suitability of the ORBIT CS quote. In order to determine if the pricing was fair and reasonable, NSWCCD Code 7420 requested a quote from ORBIT CS for this purchase, which was compared with historical quotes from the last 20 years. The proposal from ORBIT CS tracks with historical trends, and shows excellent value for capability as ORBIT CS’s antenna positioner’s have gotten better. Given the consistency with historical data, pricing has been determined to be fair and reasonable.

Additionally, NSWCCD Code 7420 has looked at what it would take to produce in-house antenna positioners and find ORBIT CS to be far cheaper than the government.

NSWCCD Code 7420 has estimated each antenna positioner a level that exceeds the dollar threshold of the original justification approval authority, a new justification approval shall be obtained from the appropriate approval authority prior to award.

to cost upwards of and to match the capabilities of the AL-4016S and AL-4018D.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Competition

NSWCCD will assess whether competition for future requirements associated with the antenna positioners are feasible. However, NSWCCD’s requirement is a unique case, because the time constraints and costs associated with new, untested equipment in a global radar infrastructure will prevent NSWCCD Code 7420 from meeting their mission requirements of near-term, upcoming trials.

Market research suggest that other vendors do not offer a suitable ‘drop-in’ replacement that would not require extensive effort on NSWCCD Code 7420 to procure, deploy, and integrate into each of its instrumentation radar system. Other commercially available positioners do not offer the same communication system, and would not be spare parts compatible, as determined through online specification sheets. The capability of providing antenna positioners, the costs associated with buying extra spares, integrating them into the existing radar systems, and training personnel on the new antenna positioner to match existing capabilities with ORBIT CS antenna positioners, are both costly and time-consuming to meet the mission requirements for NSWCCD Code 7420. The ORBIT CS positioners are already compatible with the current systems and wouldn’t require an expensive redesign cycle to fully integrate.

If future requirements involving antenna positioners develop, the PCO will assess whether the circumstances surrounding the need to obtain the required supplies/services without full and open competition have changed in a manner to allow for competition in meeting those future requirements.

CERTIFICATIONS AND APPROVAL

TECHNICAL/REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION (FAR 6.303-2(c)) a level that exceeds the dollar threshold of the original justification approval authority, a new justification approval shall be obtained from the appropriate approval authority prior to award.

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance, which are included in this justification and its supporting data, except as noted herein, are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

LEGAL SUFFICIENCY REVIEW (NMCARS 5206.303(90))

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION (FAR 13.501(a)(2)(i))

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

APPROVAL BLOCK (FAR 13.501(a)(2)(ii) for a proposed contract exceeding $750,000, the Advocate for Competition approval)

Upon the basis of the above justification, I hereby approve, as the solicitation of the proposed procurement(s) described herein a level that exceeds the dollar threshold of the original justification approval authority, a new justification approval shall be obtained from the appropriate approval authority prior to award.

using other than full and open competition, pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(__).