63_Redacted_J&A.pdf

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

NOTE: If a Justification and Approval was approved for the preceding acquisition, a copy of the approved J&A for the predecessor action must be included in the staff package for approval of the instant J&A. This applies to J&A staff packages that are submitted for review and approval at a level above the contracting officer. The predecessor J&A will be used as a reference document by the approving official.

Choose the funding level for this J&A Document:

< $700K > $700K and < $13.5M > $13.5M and < $93M > $93M

Contracting Activity: AFSC/PZABB

Purchase Request / Local ID Number: FD2060-15-00941

Program / Project (and PE, if applicable): ALQ-161 TWT Repair

Program Type (PEO or Other Contracting): Other Contracting

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

Estimated Contract Cost (including options): J&A Type: Class Individual

COORDINATION (AFFARS 5306.304(a) )

Date Project Lead / Program Mgr / Requiring Activity

408 SCMS/GULB 468-6068

Signature

Date Contracting Officer

AFSC/PZABB 468-7140

Date Local Legal Reviewer

AFMC/JA 472-0569

APPROVAL (AFFARS 5306.304(a) )

Date Competition Advocate

AFMC/PZCA 472-1090

I. Contracting Activity.

This Justification and Approval to request authority for Other Than Full and Open Competition supports requirements generated for the Air Force Sustainment Center (AFSC), 638 Supply Chain Management Group (SCMG), 408 Supply Chain Management Squadron (SCMS)/GULB. The contracting authority for this requirement is AFSC/PZABB. The purchase request number supporting this contracting action is

FD2060-15-00941.

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

Due to the circumstances described herein, the activity requests authority to acquire the services listed in this document using Other Than Full and Open Competition 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 firm-fixed price, requirements type contract with a basic and four, one-year ordering periods in which additional quantities may be ordered. This sole source requirement will be purchased from the following company:

L3 Communications Corporation 960 Industrial Road San Carlos, CA 94070-4116

CAGE: 80080

Large Business

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

Under the contemplated contract, L3 Communications will provide Test, Teardown, & Evaluation (TT&E) and repair of the ALQ-161 Band 5 Traveling Wave Tube (TWT), Interchangeable and Substitutable NSNs 5960-01-217-1479EW or 5960-01-174-3119EW, Part Numbers 442349-1, L-2120-50, or 435335-1, . Currently there are 27ea backorders for this asset and the monthly demand rate (MDR) is 1ea. Current repair contract FA8522-12-D-0003 expires 10 May 2017. Consolidated Sustainment Activity Group-Supply Division (CSAG-SD) funding will be utilized for this requirement.

The total estimated cost for this acquisition, including maximum estimated quantities of 20ea for all ordering periods, is The estimated repair price for the basic period is based on current contract FA8522-12-D-0003 with a 3% escalation factor applied to option year estimated repair cost. The estimated delivery schedule for TT&E is 6ea per month, 60 days after receipt of order (ARO) or after receipt of asset (ARA), whichever is later. The estimated delivery schedule is 3ea repairs per month, 180 days ARO or ARA. The quantities are based on actual demand as well as the March 2015 D200A computation cycle.

Requirement Major BEQ Major URC Minor BEQ Minor URC Total Total (Per Year)

BASIC IN: 5960-01-217-1479EW

IN: 5960-01-174-3119EW

OUT: 5960-01-217-1479EW

OP1 IN: 5960-01-217-1479EW

IN: 5960-01-174-3119EW

OUT: 5960-01-217-1479EW

OP2 IN: 5960-01-217-1479EW

IN: 5960-01-174-3119EW

OUT: 5960-01-217-1479EW

OP3 IN: 5960-01-217-1479EW

IN: 5960-01-174-3119EW

OUT: 5960-01-217-1479EW

OP4 IN: 5960-01-217-1479EW

IN: 5960-01-174-3119EW

OUT: 5960-01-217-1479EW

Grand Total Value of Package

*URC from FA8522-12-D-0003 with 3% escalation for out years Contract to include additional NSP lines for TT&E, Condemnation, and Data

IV. Statutory authority permitting Other than Full and Open Competition.

10 USC 2304(c), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a)(2), Only One Responsible Source 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).

FAR 6.302-1(d)(1) requires an ordering activity to justify its actions when restricting competition. The agency's minimum needs can only be satisfied by the unique supplies and services available from the above cited source. This source possesses unique capabilities demonstrated as follows:

Only Capable Source: This contract effort will be solicited under “Other Than Full and Open Competition to L3 Communications. L3 Communications is the only qualified source for this highly specialized repair which requires extensive knowledge of the technical design techniques. L3 Communications is the only source that has the proprietary internal drawings for this item. L3 Communications has repaired this TWT for over ten years. There is currently no commercial application for this NSN or a commercial equivalent.

The Government does not possess the internal drawings for this TWT. It should be noted that because EDO Corporation is the source control authority for this TWT, the TWT has both an EDO and L3 Communications part number. EDO has never manufactured nor repaired this item because they do not have the internal drawings to do so. L3 Communications is listed as the only suggested source of supply/ repair on the TWT specification drawing (Rev. N).

The AFMC Form 762, Contract Repair Screening Analysis Worksheet, states that the RMC/RMSC code for the TWT is R3/R. The RMC code of R3 indicates to “Repair, for the second or subsequent time, directly from the actual manufacturer.” The RMSC code of R was selected because “the data or the rights to use the data needed to purchase this part from additional sources are not owned by the Government The Government emailed L-3 with a request to sell the Design and Repair Data to the the Government. L-3 declined the request.

Reverse Engineering: A reverse engineering effort would be required for any other source to obtain the knowledge that L3 Communications already possesses. This will take a vendor a minimum of three (3) years to accomplish based on a redesign that was completed on ALQ-161 oscillators in 2012. The parts were redesigned on contract HC1047-05-D-4005-0126 which was awarded on 16 Sep 2009 and completed in Nov 2012. The cost was $2,598,469.04. An additional delay of one (1) year would be required for the Government to approve the source through contract auditing and OSS&E testing by AFLCMC/WNYEBA.

Given the current need for this asset by the user as evidenced by the backorders, the time required to complete the reverse engineering would be a severe detriment to the mission and military readiness.

Reverse engineering would cause an unacceptable delay and duplication of cost not expected to be recovered through competition before the system retires.

The ALQ-161

Program Office has completed an economic analysis on this requirement which resulted in a negative return on investment by the time the system retires in 2 The estimated cost of reverse engineering and qualification in order to compete this requirement would not be recouped until 2 four years after the expected retirement of the system.

Although there are other vendors who can manufacture TWTs, the proprietary nature of the vacuum envelope in each TWT precludes the repair of another vendor's TWT. The ALQ-161 Band 5 TWT is a specialized TWT that is only used for military applications.

Accordingly, L3 Communications is the only firm capable of providing the supplies and services described in Section III above without the U.S. Air Force experiencing significant delays in fulfilling its requirements. Per an email received on 3 Nov 2015, L3 has declined to sell the required data to the Government.

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

This requirement will be synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities website (FedBizOpps.gov) as required by FAR 5.201, citing conditions which preclude full and open competition. Sources expressing an interest as a result of the synopsis will be investigated for their capabilities to perform on this and/or future requirements, and identified to L3 Communications for possible subcontracting opportunities.

A Request for Information (RFI) was posted to FedBizOps on 19 Oct 2015 for 15 days. The RFI was published under the Synopsis Number: RFI-ALQ161TWT-FY16 with the Description “Request for Information Repair of the Travelling Wave Tube NSN 5960-01-174-3119EW (Input) PN: L-2120-50 NSN 5960-01-217-1479EW (Output) PN: 442349-1” The RFI was reposted on 6 Nov 2015 for an additional 15 days. No responses were received.

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

The anticipated cost will be considered fair and reasonable based upon FAR 15 negotiation procedures using price and cost analysis. The contractor will be required to submit certified cost or pricing data in accordance with FAR 15.403-4. A comprehensive analysis will include a technical evaluation of the proposed effort, recommendations by Defense Contract Management Agency, and expert technical personnel supporting the program.

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 Sep-Dec 2015 as outlined by FAR 10.002 using the following methods:

reviewing industry reports, trends and product developments; discussions with industry representatives;

internet searches; and industry knowledge possessed by the ALQ-161A IPT and Engineering staff.

Engineering is actively engaged in component product sustainment, staying abreast of industry developments by reviewing industry reports, trends and product developments, talking with field personnel, and maintaining an active dialog with L-3 Communications Corporation.

Due to the complex nature of the device, the low usage rate, and the lack of a Government owned production level drawing package, currently the only source able repair the TWT is L-3 Communications Corporation. The Government performed several queries in the marketplace, as well as databases listed on the approved ACE website. The websites used are listed below:

• http://www.aerospace-technology.com/contractors/index.html,

• http://www.globalspec.com/ProductFinder,

• http:www.eem.com

• http://dsbs.sba.gov/dsbs/search/dsp_dsbs.cfm

A Request for Information (RFI) was posted to FedBizOpps on 19 Oct 2015 for 15 days. The RFI was reposted on 6 Nov 2015 for an additional 15 days. No responses were received. The ALQ-161A Systems Engineering team searched the databases and websites by NSN, part number, and/or item description.

Research revealed that this effort will be sole source because the Government does not possess the data or facilities required for accomplishment of this requirement to another vendor. L-3 Communications Corporation is the only known source with the data, skills, and equipment necessary to successfully provide the work required.

Qualifying a new source would include new supplier startup, performing qualification, first article testing, acceptance testing, and flight test. Similar efforts have exceeded two million dollars. The vendor would also require several Government Furnished Equipment items, which are unavailable. This delay would be unacceptable. Due to the critical demand, limited schedule and cost, and the fact that the Government does not own the data for this repair, it is not in the Government's best interest to develop another qualified source through reverse engineering. Research identified L-3 Communications Corporation as the sole source because they are the only company with the capability to repair this item. The Government does not possess the detailed engineering information that would enable a new vendor to successfully repair this item. However, the Government does have Government use Specification Control Drawing. Therefore, this effort will be sole source to L-3 Communications Corporation.

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.

Based on market research conducted and economic analysis performed, there is no plan to foster competition at this time. The Government does not own the data rights. The contractor is not willing to sell the data required to repair these items as evidenced by an email dated 3 Nov 2015. The ALQ-161 Program Office has completed an economic analysis on this requirement which resulted in a negative return on investment by the time the system retires in 2 The estimated cost of reverse engineering and qualification in order to compete this requirement would not be recouped until 2 , four years after the system is expected to retire. Additionally, a Request for Information (RFI) was posted to FedBizOpps 19 Oct through 21 Nov 2015 and no responses were received. The Government will continue to request the contractor to sell the data for any future requirement. Although there are other vendors who can manufacture TWTs, the proprietary nature of the vacuum envelope in each TWT precludes the repair of another vendor's TWT. The ALQ-161 Band 5 TWT is a specialized TWT that is only used for military applications.

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 (our) signature(s) above, I (we) certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is my (our) responsibility, is both accurate and complete.