J_and_A_Mar_V2_(14-32456)_(2)_June_2_Feb_7_2016_Redacted..pdf

THIS DOCUMENT MAY CONTAIN COMPETITIVE, SENSITIVE OR OTHER NON-PUBLIC INFORMATION NOT INTENDED FOR

DISCLOSURE OUTSIDE OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT CHANNELS.

EPPERSON.CHARL

COORDNATION AND APPROVAL FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

ACQUISITION GREATER THAN$650K, BUT NOT EXCEEDING $12.5 MILLION

PR Number(s): FD2060-14-32456

Estimated Value: N/A

Category: Program Executive

Officer (PEO)

Authority: 10 U.S.C. 2304(c) (1)

Based on the Justification provided herein, acquisition of the services is recommended using other than Full and Open Competition (OTF&OC) using authority cited above.

COORDINATION AND APPROVAL

Digitally signed by

KNOX.LAWRENCE.A.JR.1060975600

DN: c=US, o=U.S. Government, ou=DoD, Technical/Requirements_.A.JR.1060975600 ou=PKI, ou=USAF, cn=KNOX.LAWRENCE.A.JR.1060975600 Date: 2015.05.11 15:07:23 -04'00'

Name Office Symbol Date Phone

Contracting Officer _

WHELCHEL.KATHERINE.M.128

1890324 Date: 2015.05.19 11:33:39 -04'00' for Robin Dixon

AFLC/WWQK_

468-6340

Digitally signed by

EPPERSON.CHARLES.R.1103770811

DN: c=US, o=U.S. Government, ou=DoD, ES.R.1103770811

Staff Judge Advocate_ ou=PKI, ou=USAF, cn=EPPERSON.CHARLES.R.1103770811 Date: 2015.05.29 16:09:02 -04'00'

Competition Advocate

PERRINE.GARY.A.1022289620

Date: 2015.06.11 15:43:39

-04'00'

AFSC/PZCA

11 June 2015 472-1102

KNOX.LAWRENCE

AFLCMC/WWQIA_

78 ABW/JAO

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

I. CONTRACTING ACTIVITY

The Justification and Approval to request authority for Other Than Full and Open Competition supports requirements for the Contract Logistics Support (CLS) for the Royal Saudi Air Force

(RSAF) F-15 Electronic Systems Test Set (ESTS) Program. The requiring activity for this FMS requirement is AFLCMC/WWQIA. The Contracting agency and organizational activity responsible for the proposed contracting action is AFLCMC/WWQK. The purchase request supporting this contracting action is FD2060-14-32456.

II. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING PROCESSED

Due to the circumstances described herein, this activity requests authority to acquire CLS engineering services for RSAF ESTS using Other Than Full and Open Competition (OTF&OC) procedures as prescribed by FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. This action will result in the award of a new contract which will be a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) and Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) contract with a basic year plus three annual Option periods plus a six month Option to extend services (FAR

52.217-8). The sole source requirement will be purchased from the following company:

Northrop Grumman System Corporation

600 Hicks Rd.

Rolling Meadows IL 60008-1015

Cage Code: 26916

Large Business

III. DESCRIPTION OF THE SUPPLIES/SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE

AGENCY’S NEEDS

Period of Performance: 54 Months (12-month Basic, three one-year Option periods and one six-month Option period) Funding: SR-D-SAP 020

A. CLS services to provide the full range of system/sustaining engineering, program management, and logistics services to support RSAF ESTS fielded units. The ESTS is used at the Intermediate Level (I-Level) to test 69 F-15 avionics Line Replaceable Units (LRUs) in order to identify and replace defective Shop Replaceable Units (SRUs). The RSAF ESTS is an

Automatic Test System (ATS) consisting of the test set and associated Interface Test Adapter

(ITA) hardware along with 56 software based Test Program Sets (TPSs) and 114 technical orders. This is a follow-on effort to contract FA8505-11-C-0003 which expires 30 September

2015.

B. The contractor shall provide the full range of logistics support to include depot repair of hardware, technical support for fielded stations, resolution of reported software deficiencies, Technical Order (T.O.) management, sustaining engineering and obsolescence program management. The contractor will develop and implement upgrades to add additional test capability or improve station performance and reliability as directed and funded by the customer through the PCO. Maintaining, to the maximum extent possible, a common hardware/software configuration between the seven RSAF owned ESTS stations is of paramount importance for long term supportability and affordability.

C. Total estimated cost of this acquisition is $11.37M which is based on historical sustainment costs from the following contracts: FA8505-11-D-0002 and FA8505-11-C-0003

Basic: $2.30M

Option 1: $2.42M

Option 2: $2.54M

Option 3: $2.67M

Six-Month Extension: $1.44M

TOTAL $11.37M

IV. STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN

COMPETITION

10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Sources, and No

Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

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 agency’s minimum needs can only be satisfied by the unique services available from the above cited source which possesses unique capabilities demonstrated as follows: The ESTS is a highly integrated system consisting of the station and ITA hardware controlled by 75 specialized software programs and requiring over 100 ESTS specific T.O.s. Northrop Grumman

Corporation (NGC) is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) of the ESTS. They developed and built the stations, wrote the software, produced the technical orders, developed the logistics support strategy, and control the configuration. NGC owns the total package of engineering data and drawings of the RSAF equipment. They are the only company with a complete set of the software source code for the RSAF unique TPSs. Thus, they have unique experience and capability as the overall system integrator. The RSAF requirement for total logistics support can only be met by the unique ability of NGC. NGC is the only company with the total system visibility necessary to monitor and resolve pending obsolescence issues before they impact RSAF station availability. NGC is currently providing this support under contract

FA8505-11-C-0003 which expires 30 September 2015. This contract was awarded sole source on 01 April 2011.

In January 2015, NGC quote for the ESTS proprietary data package was in excess of $25M. In addition to the data package/rights, reverse engineering on the software supporting ITAs, LRUs, and TPSs would be required. This process would require a minimum of 2 years for Government to complete, then another 24 months for another source to analyze and marginally understand the unique ESTS software operating characteristics. For the small recurring annual ESTS software maintenance requirement, it’s not cost effective to purchase the data or data rights for $25M. If the ESTS proprietary data package was purchased, there would be no annual cost savings for this requirement. The RSAF has elected to not procure the engineering data to allow for competition of their unique hardware and software support requirements.

AFLCMC/WNA has determined that award to any other source would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the RSAF F-15 aircraft avionics test requirements. To qualify another source to perform ESTS software maintenance, a minimum 2 year delay would occur as indicated in the timeline below. This time estimate is based on other Automatic Test Set acquisition programs within the Automatic Test Division. The RSAF has not planned to purchase NGC ESTS data and will only use this equipment to support the legacy fleet.

The USAF, in the course of obtaining an approved Source of Repair Assignment Process

(SORAP), DMI 05-0022, performed a Cost Benefit Analysis (CBA) and determined that a CLS contract was the most cost effective ESTS repair concept. The 402 EMXG Independent

Verification & Validation (IV&V) team estimates an additional cost of over $25M to reverse engineer the proprietary instruments contained within the ESTS system. This may be a conservative estimate based upon estimated cost for reverse engineering efforts with the ongoing

F-15 V-3 radar upgrade program and the F-15 Automatic Flight Control Systems Test Set.

Discussions with the F-15 ESTS contractor and the modernization contractor about the complexity of the ESTS software support that other vendors could potentially meet our requirements. They confirmed this would require a full complement of government furnished equipment (GFE) and a significant amount of time (24 months) to learn the unique characteristics of the ESTS operating system. Use of another vendor other than the OEM presents a high technical risk as well as creates a situation that would delay updates to the software. Delays in updates would cause problems for the F-15 maintainers and the F-15 ESTS modernization program. Without updated software, the F-15 maintainers cannot adequately test the aircraft LRUs, therefore causing a potentially dangerous situation for the aircrew. NGC has all the data and the expertise to perform the F-15 ESTS software maintenance requirement. The software maintenance support is critical in order to support the mission of the F-15 aircraft avionics systems. In order to perform repairs and investigate reported deficiencies, any contractor performing ESTS sustainment or modernization tasks will require an ESTS system with associated ITAs as well as a set of all LRUs tested.

Accordingly, NGC is the only firm capable of providing the services described in Section III above without the RSAF experiencing substantial duplication of cost that could not be expected to be recovered through competition and unacceptable delays in fulfilling its requirements.

VI. DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS MADE TO ENSURE THAT OFFERS ARE

SOLICITED FROM AS MANY POTENTIAL SOURCES AS DEEMED PRACTICABLE

This requirement will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) as required by FAR 5.201. It is anticipated that sources having an interest in subcontracting may be identified through synopsis. Sources who respond to the Government as a result of this synopsis will be investigated for their capabilities to perform this and/or future acquisitions. These sources will be identified to the prime contractor for potential subcontracting possibilities.

VII. DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE

ANTICIPATED COST TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE

The overall cost of this acquisition will be fair and reasonable to the Government. In accordance with FAR 15.404, the contractor will be required to provide certified cost or pricing data to be used in supporting the Government’s evaluation of the proposed cost. The proposed skill mix of labor, labor hours, types and quantities of material, other direct cost, and direct and indirect rates will be negotiated by the Government based on recommendations from the Defense Contract

Management Agency (DCMA) and expert technical personnel supporting the program. The contract price will be negotiated in accordance with the procedures in FAR Part 15 ensuring the ultimate cost to the Government is fair and reasonable.

VIII. DESCRIPTION OF THE MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AND THE

RESULTS, OR A STATEMENT OF THE REASONS MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT

CONDUCTED

AFLCMC/WWQIA performed market research in accordance with FAR Part 10.001 and 10.002 to determine if other sources can provide the services required by the RSAF. The market research was completed on 20 November 2014. The Market Research techniques consisted of conducting internet and Dynamic Small Business System searches using NAICS 811219 and key words “Electronic Systems Test Set” for vendors who were ISO 9000 certified. The searches produced many potential sources. The sources were evaluated, however without a complete technical data package; a vendor would have to analyze the legacy and the Controller Upgrade software in order to learn details of the design. The analysis would require use of an ESTS asset as GFE. In addition to ESTS analysis, an analyze of the F-15 ESTS, TPS, ITAs and F-15 LRUs is required for a vendor to learn the details of how the systems operate in order to investigate the software deficiencies and provide proper solutions to problems. The unique system configuration includes NGC Contractor Equipment Manufacturer (CEM) techniques. The CEMs were based on Northrop proprietary legacy system software. The learning curve for a non-experienced contractor to investigate and or provide software solution to the customer in a timely manner would exceed 24 months. The cost for this research and development would be an estimated cost of $9M. This would only allow for maintenance of the current ESTS, which is in need of immediate upgrade. The sources were determined to not have the capability to fulfill the

RSAF requirements.

The RSAF is dependent on OEM CLS as augmented by limited USAF organic capability provided by Robins Air Force Base (RAFB). Additional research was conducted with AFLCMC

Robins AFB Depot. It was determined that repair capability does not exist at RAFB Depot.

The USAF is currently undergoing a modernization effort for the ESTS to address obsolescence.

The intent of the USAF upgrade effort is to re-baseline the ESTS to a supportable/sustainable configuration, inclusive of the appropriate data package, to enable future competitive sustainment contracts. This modernization effort’s estimated completion date is October 2018.

This effort is for the basic ESTS station only and does not address the RSAF unique software and interface test adapters. Once the USAF modernization effort proves successful, the RSAF will consider upgrade/re-base line of the RSAF unique ESTS hardware/software, including data.

This ESTS modernization upgrade would allow for full and open competitive acquisition of

ESTS support services on future acquisitions. Parallel to this effort is a similar modernization effort for in-Kingdom ESTS program. The estimated completion time for this effort is 24 months.

It was established that while there are many providers and maintainers of ATS, the total hardware and software support requirements for ESTS precludes any company other than NGC from providing the full range of required services.

IX ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND

OPEN COMPETITION:

None.

X. LIST OF SOURCES, IF ANY, THAT EXPRESSED INTEREST IN THE

ACQUISITION:

See Section VI above.

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.

As stated above, the USAF and in-Kingdom programs have an ESTS modernization effort to upgrade the ESTS baseline to eliminate obsolescence and obtain a technical data package which will allow for future competitive sustainment contracts. This office is closely monitoring both modernization efforts. Once one or both modernization efforts have been completed and ESTS sustainment capability is validated, the USAF will recommend the RSAF fund a similar upgrade effort to include the common upgrades and the RSAF unique ESTS configuration requirements. If RSAF funds this modernization effort, technical data will be acquired to allow for future competitive acquisition. Upon completion of the modernization effort, AFLCMC/WWQIA will move forward to competitively acquire ESTS sustainment services instead of exercising any remaining Option(s) on this follow on contract. Based on

NG’s quote of $25M for the purchase of the data or data rights, the two (2) years required for another company to develop the capability to support the ESTS program and the upcoming modernization of this program, a sole source award to NG is the logical solution at this time.

The life of the program is 25 years. After modernization of the ESTS, all future requirements will be competitive using full and open competition. In the interim, the RSAF remain dependent upon the OEM for continued ESTS support to ensure the capability to repair and test critical F-15 LRUs is available through the current ESTS configuration.

XII. CONTRACTING OFFICER’S CERTIFICATION

The contracting officer’s signature on the coordination and approval document evidences that he/she has determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of his/her knowledge and belief (FAR 6.303-2(b)(12)).

XIII. TECHNICAL/REQUIREMENTS PERSONNEL’S CERTIFICATION

As evidenced by their signatures on the J&A signature page, the technical and/or requirements personnel have certified that any supporting data contained herein which is their responsibility is both accurate and complete (FAR 6.303-2(c)).