F2FF089086AW01_BN_JA_01_Redacted.pdf

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

25 May 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Page 2 of 5

I. Contracting Activity.

Department of Air Force, 1st Special Operations Contracting Squadron, Hurlburt Field, FL. This document serves as a Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition.

II. Nature and/or description of the action being processed.

This action will be awarded as a new contract and it will be a firm-fixed-price contract.

III. Description of supplies/services required to meet agency needs.

The contractor shall provide a quantity of fourteen (14) Harris High Frequency (HF) Falcon III AN/PRC-160 radios, also referred to as the RF-300H. Each radio is comprised of/configured with the parts listed below:

RF-300H-MP001, AN/PRC-160 HF Manpack Radio with Internal GPS Software LPI/LPD Software HFRW-S RF-1941 HF Dipole Antenna, Green Wire, Green Bag

The total estimated value to purchase the 14 PRC-160 radios is

Delivery is estimated within 30 - 60 days after receipt of contract award.

57 3400 (Operations and Maintenance) appropriations will be used to fund this requirement.

IV. Statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition.

Procurement under the contract will be conducted on a brand name basis in accordance with the statutory authority 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) and implemented by FAR 13.501, Sole Source acquisitions, to include Brand Name, conducted under simplified acquisition procedures. Only one brand is suitable for this requirement because the supplies are unique or highly specialized.

V. Demonstration that the contractor's unique qualifications or nature of the acquisition requires the use of the authority cited above (applicability of authority).

The Harris AN/PRC High Frequency (HF) Radio is the only wideband HF radio currently fielded that meets the requirements below:

- Is NSA Type-1 Crypto Certified up to Top Secret Level;

- Employs HF wideband data transmission techniques;

- Backward compatible with all 2G radios and 3G HF radios in the same manufacturers brand line;

- Software defined to facilitate upgrades such as complying with emerging waveform standards and other capabilities;

- Allows an operator to change frequencies within seconds at the push of a button or twist of a dial without the need for equipment external to the radio.

- Provide the operator with a viewing screen that indicates the operating state of the radio without the need for equipment eternal to the radio.

The Harris AN-PRC-160 is the only radio that meets all of the requirements identified above. It is also the only such radio currently being manufactured. Hundreds of these radios have been delivered across the Department of Defense, and are performing satisfactorily.

Other radios reviewed by an HF Radio Study Group were either beyond a year from production, had backward compatibility problems, were unable to upgrade to the emerging 3G and 4G HF waveform standards, could not be used for classified transmissions, required peripherals to permit the operator to interact with the radio, or a combination of these limitations.

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

25 May 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Page 3 of 5

VI. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable.

A Combined Synopsis Solicitation will be issued via Federal Business Opportunities, limited to the specific brand name products to allow Harris Corporation and their authorized distributors to provide an offer for the requested items.

VII. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The anticipated price will be determined fair and reasonable based on competition.

VIII. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted.

Market Research was conducted by an HF Study Group at Maxwell AFB in November 2017 as discussed in paragraph IX.

This study found other radio capabilities were either beyond a year from production, had backward compatibility problems, were unable to upgrade to the emerging 3G and 4G HF waveform standards, could not be used for classified transmissions, required peripherals to permit the operator to interact with the radio, or a combination of these limitations.

The Navy has a Portable Radio Program contract that has been utilized to purchase these radios, N0003918D0070.

AFSOC attempted to procure the items requested under this justification through the Navy Portable Radio Program;

however, the Navy was not able to support AFSOC's radio requirement.

Additional research was performed by 1SOCONS through EZSearch, EDA and Federal Business Opportunities. The research found the contracts below for Harris FALCON III Radios.

N6426717P0169 awarded by Naval Surface Warfare Center Corona Div in the amount of on 2 June 2017. The contract was solicited and competed, with competition limited to the specific brand name Harris Falcon III radios.

Several delivery orders were found to be issued from FA489016D0027. This Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity contract was awarded by AFF AMIC/PKD, Langley AFB, VA. The contract was written with a ceiling of and provides only Falcon III Radio Systems. The contract does not appear to include the AN/PRC-160, likely because the AN/PRC-160 was introduced to the market in 2017.

Lastly, a contract FA441718C0006 was recently awarded by this office in the amount of on 18 July 2018. the RFP was solicited on an unrestricted basis, limiting submissions to the specific brand name requested. Two proposals were received in response to the Request for Proposal.

IX. Any other facts supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

In order to bolster the deterrent and warfighting capability of the Air Force, senior Air Force leaders seek to build a more robust, resilient, and reliable C3 architecture for American air forces worldwide, with urgent priority given to the Pacific, North America next, and then the rest.

Senior Air Force leaders recognize that High Frequency (HF) radio is the only "infrastructure independent" form of communications (meaning it uses neither space nor cyber) that can pass voice and data at trans- and inter-continental ranges.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has a program already underway to deliver Rockwell-Collings HF wideband radios capable of forming ad hoc peer-to-peer "mesh nets". However, at the current research and development rates, such radios will not be delivered before 2020 and networking might not be possible before 2025.

Senior Air Force leaders seek a rapid gap-filler solution to create a global HF network for airpower C3. The goal is to have systems in place and operational in the Pacific by the end of the first quarter of calendar year 2018 (NLT 31 March

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

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2018) and across North America shortly thereafter, and across the rest of the Air Force by the end of 2018.

An HF Study Group was established at Maxwell Air Force Base, designating Air University faculty members and Civil Air Patrol personnel as members of the research team. Members of the DoD HF Working Group were also active participants in this study. The study performed determined that the temporary systems set in place must ensure:

- AOCs have 2-way, secure HF voice and wideband data connectivity to those entities that provide them with data used in the C3 air operations.

- AOCs have 2-way secure HF voice and wideband connectivity to air bases hosting assets apportioned to them for execution by the Air Component Commander.

The selected radio must:

- Employ HF wideband data transmission techniques.

- Be backward compatible with all 2G radios and 3G HF radios in the same manufacturers brand line.

- Be software defined to facilitate upgrades such as complying with emerging waveform standards and other capabilities.

- Be capable to Type 1 encryption able to secure transmissions up to at least secret.

- Allow an operator to change frequencies within seconds at the push of a button or twist of a dial without the need for equipment external to the radio.

- Provide the operator with a viewing screen that indicates the operating state of the radio without the need for equipment eternal to the radio.

Given the capabilities and limitations of HF radios, the HF Radio Study Group recommended two tiers of HF radio networks that together create a global network.

- Tier 1. The first tier consists of all AOCs and the entities that supply them with data relevant to the C3 of air forces, to include those AOCs and schools used for training and exercises.

- Tier 2. The second tier consists of each AOC and the air bases, beddown locations, and aircraft carriers that provide airpower assets for execution by the associated Air Component Commander.

Based on the above requirements, the HF Radio Study Group recommended the Harris AN/PRC-160 as the preferred radio in both Tier 1 and Tier 2 networks.

The Harris AN/PRC-160 is the only radio that meets all of the requirements identified above. It is also the only such radios currently being manufactured and hundreds have been delivered across the Department of Defense, and are performing satisfactorily.

The AN/PRC-160 is the replacement radio for Air Combat Command's TACP community that had previously used the AN/PRC-150 (along with the Army, Marines, and SOCOM). Harris has announced end of life to the AN/PRC-150, but provides the AN/PRC-160 as its replacement. It offers the same features, is backward compliant, plus it offers HF wideband.

As previously stated, other radios reviewed by the HF Radio Study Group were either beyond a year from production, had backward compatibility problems, were unable to upgrade to the emerging 3G and 4G HF waveform standards, could not be used for classified transmissions, required peripherals to permit the operator to interact with the radio, or a combination of these limitations.

X. List of any sources that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

N/A.

XI. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required.

Market research will be performed prior to future purchases to determine if any other products have been fielded on the market that meet the requirements described addressed in paragraph V of this justification.

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

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XII. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

As evidenced by my signature above, I have determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

XIII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

As evidenced by my signature above, I certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is my responsibility, is both accurate and complete.