JA_FLU-9_Redacted.pdf

Justification and Approval (J&A) for Other Than Full and Open Competition

CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION

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I. Agency and Contracting Activity.

United States Air Force

AFLCMCM/EBHKB

6072 Fir Avenue, Building 1233 Hill AFB, UT 84056-5805 Contracting Officer:

PR Number(s): FD2020-23-51321 & FD2020-23-51100; FD2020-24-50017 & FD2020-24-50018

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

A. This contract requirement will be a follow-on contract to order Automatic Inflation Unit (FLU-9) assets to meet program sustainment requirements for the Aircrew Flight Equipment Program in support of USAF, Foreign Military Sales (FMS), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).

Contract will be awarded to:

Stratus Systems, Inc.

7550 Highway 23 Belle Chasse, LA 70037-2504 CAGE Code 3AX04

B. The previous contract awards stated herein were awarded to Stratus Systems, Inc. A previous Sole Source Firm Fixed Pricing (FFP) was awarded through NAVSUP.

C. Contract Type Structure: This contract will be a single award to procure an estimated total quantity of units. The contract will use a FFP pricing arrangement. All deliveries totaling units are expected within thirty (30) months ARO, 30 Mar 2028.

D. Estimated Award Date: 10 Sep 2025

E. Type J&A: Individual

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

A. Under this individual J&A, Stratus will provide the items listed below. These explosive components perform the specific function that will allow for Automatic Inflation of the Life Preserver Unit (LPU) allowing the Aircrew member to float in the event of an Aircraft mishap occurring over water. The quantities and cost listed below are estimates only:

Item National Stock Number Item Name Est. Unit Cost Quantity Est. Total Cost 1 1377-01-590-0158ES Automatic Inflation Unit (FLU-9)

Total Quantity: units

B. There are no feasible actions that can be taken to promote competition during the period of acquisition as described in Section V of this document.

C. Total estimated costs: . Appropriated funds for this acquisition are USAF 3011, FMS, and NASA. This effort will require multiple years' funding to meet program requirements.

IV. Demonstration that the contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited above.

10 USC 2304(c)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii): Only one responsible source and no other supplies will satisfy agency requirements.

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A. Stratus is currently the only approved source that is capable and knowledgeable to develop this highly specialized unique design. Furthermore, the technical data required to manufacture these critical safety-of-flight components are proprietary to Stratus. This data and knowledge are essential for maintaining the quality of the parts. Therefore, this acquisition will be a follow-on contract for the continued production of highly specialized equipment.

B. Stratus provided top level drawings for cataloging purposes only; cataloging is for assigning a National Stock Number (NSN). The United States Government (USG) has limited data rights. The last attempt to obtain the data from Stratus was via email on 10 Oct 2024, by the program manager. Stratus informed the USG that they are not willing to relinquish, sell, or enter negotiations for any data rights on Stratus' products.

C. The CAD/PAD Joint Program Office (CAD/PAD JPO) believes that award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the government in the estimated amount of $5M that is not expected to be recovered through competition and unacceptable delays in fulfilling USAF, FMS, and NASA requirements. This cost is based on the creation of technical data rights, development of applicable test fixtures and associated requirements. Current assets, technical data top level drawings, production, and technical guidance are proprietary to Stratus and would require extensive research and development costs to properly reverse engineer this requirement to satisfy program needs.

D. Accordingly, Stratus is the only firm capable and qualified to provide the items described in Section III of this document without the USAF, FMS, and/or NASA experiencing substantial duplication of cost that would not be expected to be recovered through competition, and an estimated four (4) to six (6) years in unacceptable delays in fulfilling requirements.

This time frame is based on the time estimated to develop, test and certify required production and test equipment to validate requested items.

V. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under

FAR 5.202 applies.

A. A FLU-9 Inflation synopsis, FD2020-24-50019, was posted on 11 Apr 2024 and closed 10 May 2024. This synopsis was conducted to identify potential sources possessing the engineering and manufacturing knowledge for an Aircrew Flight Equipment/Survival component. This resulted in no inquiries or responses. Sources Sought Synopsis was not performed on the previously awarded contract as it was through NAVSUP.

B. This requirement will be synopsized in SAM.gov as Notice of Contract Action IAW FAR 5.201. All sources that request a solicitation will be provided one. If the interested sources express intent as a result of this synopsis or other action, they will be listed in the official contract file.

C. Other Actions: None

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

The following steps will be taken to ensure that the anticipated cost of this acquisition will be fair and reasonable. The Contracting Officer will comply with the procedures and criteria contained in the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) under Part 30 - Cost Accounting Standard, Part 31 - Contract Cost Principles and Procedures, Subparts 15.4 - Contract Pricing;

include technical evaluations and audits, as appropriate. Additional steps to ensure price reasonableness will be under the guidance of the Contracting Reference Guides, jointly developed by the Federal Acquisition Institute and the Air Force Institute of Technology. The Contracting Office will obtain certified cost or pricing data IAW FAR Subpart 15.403 if the value of an individual contract exceeds $2M. The Final Step is to include the Price Negations Memorandum (PNM). Detailed documentation and justification of price reasonableness will be disclosed in the official PNM, to be prepared upon completion of negotiations. Based upon certified cost or pricing data provided in the offeror's proposal, the program office's technical analysis of the offeror's Basis of Estimates (BOE), and inputs from the Defense Contract Management Agency, including from the Administrative Contracting Officer, the contracting officer expects they will be able to determine that anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

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

A. Market research was conducted by sources sought synopsis of the proposed acquisition, advising industry of the pending acquisition.

B. Market research conducted included an Aug 2024 query from the AFLCMC/EBHJ vendor base, at industry summits, workshops, and sources sought synopsis.

C. The items listed in Section III are not available commercially nor is there any modified commercial item available that will meet all the government's requirements. This requirement is a non-developmental item (NDI) and will satisfy the government's needs.

D. The current Integrated Product Team revealed that Stratus is the only vendor that currently has all of the required data and claims rights to the data needed to produce the items identified in Section III.

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

None.

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

See Section V. above.

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

A. The government will determine applicability of sources based upon prior qualification. Any vendor that has completed qualification procedures set forth in the “Justification for Qualification Requirements” (JQR) and is approved by the government engineer, prior to award will be considered technically acceptable. Currently, there is only one qualified source for this item. However, if another vendor is able to become qualified prior to award, this contract will be based on the Lowest Price Technically Acceptable (LPTA). If there are no additional qualified vendors, a fair and reasonable price will be negotiated.

B. This is open to all qualified sources or sources that can become qualified before award. Companies interested in becoming qualified for these parts would need to adhere to the justification for qualification requirements (JQR). The government estimates that it would take a company approximately 5 years and $5M investment in order to become a qualified source. Attempts have been made to obtain data from Stratus but they informed the USG that they are not willing to relinquish, sell or enter negotiations for any data rights on Stratus products. Any other source that is interested would need to fund extensive research and development costs to properly reverse engineer this requirement to satisfy program needs. This method has been utilized on previous contracts awarded for these items, with the most recent contract being awarded in 2023.

C. A FLU-9 Inflation sources sought synopsis, FD2020-24-50019, was posted on 11 Apr 2024 and closed 10 May 2024. This resulted in no inquiries or responses. Sources Sought Synopsis was not performed on the previously awarded contract as it was through NAVSUP.

D. This requirement will be synopsized in SAM.gov as Notice of Contract Action IAW FAR 5.201. All sources that request a solicitation will be provided one. If the interested sources express intent as a result of this synopsis or other action, they will be listed in the official contract file.

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XI. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

As evidenced by their signature, the contracting officer certifies that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of their knowledge and belief.

XII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

As evidenced by their signatures, the technical and/or requirements personnel have certifies that any supporting data contained herein, which is their responsibility, is both accurate and complete.