C12 SSJ DelResearch-Redacted.doc

19 January 2022

MEMORANDUM

Subj: SOLE SOURCE JUSTIFICATION FOR SUPPORT FROM DELRESEARCH, INC. FOR ACOUSTIC COMMUNICATIONS (ACOMMS) EXPERIMENTATION UNDER THE MHCE U.S.-SINGAPORE PA

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

This is a sole source justification. Contracting activity is the Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Panama City Division (NSWC PCD), 110 Vernon Avenue, Panama City, FL 32407-7001 (Contracts Department Code 02).

Nature and/or description of the action being approved.

This action will award a firm fixed price purchase order to Delresearch, LLC 128 Route 6A Rear, Sandwich, MA 02563 (CAGE Code 4NE49) for acoustic communications experimentation support under the MHCE PA as described below.

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

The purchase is to acquire the following:

DelResearch will travel to and attend the Mine Hunting in Challenging Environments Participation Agreement (MHCE PA) Acoustic Communications (ACOMMS) experiment, now scheduled to occur in Singapore in the June-July 2022 time frame to participate in the experiments to collect acoustic probe data (Channel Impulse Responses (CIRs)), and to collect statistics regarding new communication waveforms. DelResearch will participate in virtual work up meetings for the experiment, and configure hardware (Popoto modems) to record and process data. DelResearch will perform analysis on the recorded data and provide a final report of results. Two senior scientists will travel to and participate in a final workshop in Panama City, to be scheduled in the summer of 2022.

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 acquisition will be conducted using simplified acquisition procedures with a total dollar value above micro-purchase levels, but not exceeding the simplified acquisition threshold of $250,000.00. All efforts will be completed by 30 December 2022. The purchase will be funded with FY 2022 Naval International Programs Office (NIPO) funds.

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) (1) - 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 will conduct joint experimentation to advance Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) – based mine hunting in complex undersea environments such as the straits of Singapore. As part of this, the acoustic communications (ACOMMS) portion of the PA will support improving the ability to transfer data acoustically during AUV missions. This improves the speed at which the AUVs can provide actionable information to operators and redirect the AUVs during the mission. The ACOMMS experiments will be in the Singapore Straits, which present a very difficult acoustic environment for communications.

Developing improved communications waveforms for environments such as the Singapore Straits requires understanding of effects of reverberation, multipath, broadband noise, and time- varying attenuation cause by bubbles due to sea traffic. DelResearch has developed the current Popoto acoustic modem, and has extensive, unique experience in ACOMMS applications and in collecting and assessing Channel Impulse Responses (CIRs) to characterize acoustic channels. Under a prior DTIC contract DelResearch developed new probe signals and several communications waveforms for the MHCE PA. Originally, the experimentation was to occur in September 2021, but due to COVID19 was postponed and will likely occur in June 2022.

DelResearch used the additional resources to further develop and validate their waveforms and probes.

DelResearch has developed three new robust waveforms for testing under the PA experiment, based on their extensive experience developing waveforms that have been implemented in many commercially available acoustic modems. Additionally, DelResearch has the capability to efficiently implement algorithms in their Popoto modems, record receive data, and conduct offline processing and analysis. It is the combination of these capabilities that brings best value to the Navy with regard to support for the MHCE PA ACOMMS experiment.

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.

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

This requirement will be synopsized on the Commercial Opportunities website at SAM.gov per FAR 5.2. No additional market research was conducted because it is not practicable, for the reasons discussed in paragraph 4 above to substitute any other product.

Any other facts supporting the justification.

None

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 has, under a prior contract completed the development and local testing of the waveforms and channel probes for the MHCE PA experiment. This contract effort will extend DelResearch’s support for the MHCE PA, including their participation in the ACOMMS experiment in Singapore, analysis and reporting of results, and participation in a final workshop and exchange with the Singaporean team in the U.S.

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