redacted_j_and_a.pdf

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

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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

FD2060-16-00674.

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

Due to the circumstances described herein, the activity requests authority to acquire the repair 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 follow-on contract, which will be a Cost Plus Fixed Fee requirements contract with a basic year and four option years. This sole source requirement will be purchased from the following company:

Crane Electronics, Inc.

DBA: STC Microwave Systems 340 N. Roosevelt Avenue Chandler, AZ 85226-2605

CAGE: 33025

Large Business

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

This requirement is for the repair of the Voltage Control Oscillators (VCO). The VCO supports the AN/ ALQ-172 Countermeasure System (CMS). The VCO is required to support the Line Replaceable Unit 10 (LRU-10) that is installed on the B52, MC-130H and AC-130U fleet.

The VCO is a necessary component for the LRU-10. It is a counter measure signal controller that identifies and makes priority decisions on threats received. WR-ALC depot operations for LRU-10 support has been impacted due to unavailability of the VCO. Most backorders are high priority because they directly impact sustainment of the LRU-10. The Depot requires the VCOs for about half of the LRU-10s inducted.

Additional LRU-10s are not available for induction into the depot; therefore, the WR-ALC Depot requires a steady and reliable stream of VCOs to preclude the danger of a LRU-10 repair line shut down due to lack of VCO assets.

The VCO National Stock Number (NSN) is 5855-01-466-2960EW. The estimated quantities and prices are as shown in J&A Attachment 1.

Total Estimated contract value:

The estimated prices were based on unit prices on FA8522-12-C-0011 and then a nominal 3% inflation

Page 3 of 6Updated: 15 Mar 16 factor was applied per year. Increase in unit cost is based on the increase of a long lead resistor that is part of the power supply. The period of performance for the contract basic year and four option years is FY2017-2021. All repair work inducted will be completed within two years (FY23). This repair contract will be funded through the Defense Working Capital Funds (DWCF 97X4930).

This item has been screened and Repair Method Code/Repair Method Suffix Code (RMC/RMSC) of R3R assigned. RMC “R3” indicates repair for the second or subsequent time, directly from the actual manufacturer. RMSC “R” means the Government does not own the data or the rights to the data needed to contract repair of this part from additional sources. It has been determined to be uneconomical to reverse engineer the part. The Government did not initially purchase the data and/or rights.

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

10 USC 2304(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, 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).

The agency's minimum needs can only be satisfied by the unique services available from only the above cited source, who possesses unique capabilities demonstrated as follows:

The repair of the VCO is required to preclude impairment of AN/ALQ-172 system in support of the C-130 missions. Without the VCO, the end item (LRU-10) will not be fully functional which would result in a hard failure of the ALQ-172 system, an operator initiated self-test and a Built-in-Test failure. The system is required to pass the self-test prior to any operational missions due to the criticality of the system and operational needs.

This item is highly specialized with several chips that are hermetically sealed on the circuit card assembly for the VCO. Crane Electronics, Inc. is the only company with the expertise, equipment, and specialized skills to repair the items embedded in the board. The Government does not own the data or the rights to the data to allow for organic or competitive acquisition. The Source of Repair Assignment (SORA) for these items is contract repair, hence the Government does not possess the detailed engineering information that would enable a new vendor to successfully develop a repair and testing methodology for this item. The fact that the Government does not possess a full data package precludes a full and open competition for the repair of items.

The Government requested a price quote to purchase all internal and repair data related to this NSN from Crane Electronics Inc. on 28 Jan 2016. Crane Electronics Inc. has yet to submit a response. Since the next higher assembly is being redesigned and will not include this component, there is no business case for the Government to pursue buying the technical data. This redesign is anticipated to be completed by FY2018.

The redesigned LRU-10 contract will require delivery of a complete technical data package. Delivery of the technical data will allow the Government to compete or stand-up organic capability for all of the new LRU-10 components.

The Depot/402 EMXS Reverse Engineering Group's previously tried to reverse engineer the VCO. The group worked for three (3) year on this project but failed due to not having technical drawings, adequate test equipment and expertise related to the asset. During this time, the lack of repair of the VCO caused a backlog of back orders against the legacy LRU-10. The legacy LRU-10 has Mission Impaired Capables

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Awaiting Parts (MICAPs) and Supplier Utilization Through Responsive Grouped Enterprises (SURGEs) due to the mission requirements.

Based on the Depot past failure and other similar engineering projects, the cost to reverse engineering is currently around . This is in addition to the cost of developing test procedures, test software, maintenance procedures, and overhaul manual. The probability of success is low and would result in a duplication in cost. The time required to complete a reverse engineering effort is in excess of 3 years. This is an unacceptable delay to meet our mission requirements. The process for updating all the existing technical data and fielding the new asset would likely take decades due to low usage rates.

Accordingly, Crane Electronics Inc. is the only firm capable of providing the services described in Section III above without the U.S. Air Force 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 practicable.

This requirement was synopsized on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) web page as required by FAR 5.201. It is anticipated that sources having an interest in subcontracting may be identified through synopsis. Although the Government does not own data to support competitive acquisition of this VCO from any other source, any source who responds to the Government as a result of this synopsis will be identified to the prime contractor as a potential for subcontracting possibilities.

A Request for Information (RFI) was posted to Fed Biz Ops on 10 Jun 2016, Solicitation number FD2060-16-ALQ-172(V)Oscillator_Subassembly (VCO). The AN/ALQ-172(V) Counter Measures System provides the B-52H, AC-130U, and MC-130H with Radio Frequency (RF) self-protection capabilities against airborne, ground based fire control radar systems, and associated missiles. There are two currently fielded versions of the AN/ALQ-172(V) system: (V)1, National Stock Number (NSN) 5865-01-261-1213EW and the (V)2 configuration, NSN 5865-01-261-2688EW. The (V)1 configuration is installed on AC-130U and MC-130H aircraft. The (V)2 configuration is installed on B-52 aircraft. Of the two described configurations, ALQ-172(V)1 and (V)2 are fully automatic systems with the two variants differing from one another in the use of different types of control-display units and antennas.

The government received one response from a potential source/vendor. After reviewing the capabilities of vendor, it was determined that they would not be a viable source. The government has no data or test equipment to give this company even though they stated they could reverse engineer the VCO. Due to the time constraints and the urgent need of the item, reverse engineering is not a possibility at this time.

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 15.403-4, 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, type and quantity of material and other direct and indirect cost 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.

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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 in accordance with FAR Part 10.001 and 10.002. The market research was completed 11 Jul 2016 by inquiries of the proposed acquisition, advising industry of the pending acquisition and soliciting inquiries from interested parties.

Market research was conducted as outlined by FAR 10.002 using the following methods:

As described in Section VI, RFI was posted to FedBizOpps on 10 June 2016. One response was received.

The respondent was determined to not be a viable source.

Other techniques used were reviewing industry reports, trends and product developments; discussions with industry representatives; internet searches; and use of industry knowledge possessed by the ALQ-172 Engineering staff.

The team conducted a review of several industry-wide searches on the Internet using the following AE-recommended component search engines. The key terms used in the search were “Voltage Controlled Oscillator.”

• 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

Research has identified Crane Electronics (CAGE 33025) as the currently qualified source available with the unique experience, expertise and relationships to satisfy the Government's requirements of this highly specialized item. Crane is the only vendor that has the proprietary technical data to support the USAF. The Government does not possess the detailed engineering information that would enable a new vendor to successfully develop a repair and testing methodology for this item. The fact that the Government does not possess a full data package precludes a full and open competition for the repair of items.

Due to the complex nature of the device, the low usage rate, unique performance specifications, and lack of Government owned production facilities, knowledge and production level drawing packages, the market research concluded there are no other sources of repair for this NSN other than Crane Electronics Inc.

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.

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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.

The Government requested a price quote to purchase all internal and repair data related to this NSN from Crane Electronics Inc. on 28 Jan 2016. Crane Electronics Inc. declined to sell the data as they consider the data to be proprietary. The Depot/402 EMXS Reverse Engineering Group's effort to reverse engineer the VCO previously failed.

Since the next higher assembly (LRU-10) is currently under redesign, no actions will be taken to remove the current barriers to competition for this item for the reasons described above. If the redesign effort remains on schedule, the projected delivery of first articles is Dec 2017, the qualification testing will be completed in approximately six months (Jun 2018). The replacement LRU-10 will be fielded between FY2018-2027. Based on the above, the life cycle of the VCO will end after fielding of the replacement LRU-10. A complete technical data package will be delivered with the new LRU-10. This will allow for future competitive or organic capability of the LRU-10.

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.