INDEED_JA_FINAL_Redacted.pdf

COORDINATION AND APPROVAL DOCUMENT

CONTRACTING ACTIVITY: U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Philips Research

Site (PRS), Directed Energy Contracting Directorate (RVKDB), Kirtland AFB, New Mexico

PROGRAM/PROJECT: Integrated Directed Energy Engineering and Development (INDEED)

AUTHORITY: 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1

ESTIMATED CONTRACT COST: $4.9M

TYPE J&A: Individual

COORDINATION: DATE

Contracting Officer: ____________________________________________ _____________

SUSAN L. ALLEY, AFRL Det 8/RVKDB

DSN: 246-6877, COM: (505) 846-6877

Project Lead/

Program Manager: ____________________________________________ _____________

Legal

Reviewer: ____________________________________________ _____________

AFNWC/JAN

DSN: 246-1542, COM: (505) 846-1542

Chief of the

Contracting Office: ____________________________________________ _____________

TAMMIE L. JOHNSON, AFRL Det 8/RVK

DSN: 246-4979, COM: 505-846-4979

APPROVED:

Competition

Advocate: ____________________________________________ _____________

TAMMIE L. JOHNSON, AFRL Det 8/RVK

DSN: 246-4979, COM: 505-846-4979

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

I. CONTRACTING ACTIVITY:

U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL), Philips Research Site (PRS), Directed Energy

Contracting Division (RVKDB), Kirtland AFB, NM 87117-5773. This document is an individual justification and approval document for other than full and open competition.

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

This document is an individual justification and approval document for a new cost-plus-fixed-fee

(CPFF) completion type contract, FA9451-14-C-0205, to be awarded to Northrop Grumman

Space & Mission Systems Corp. (NGS&MSC), One Space Park Blvd, Redondo Beach, CA

90278-1001. NGS&MSC is a division of Northrop Grumman Corporation. The following are other entities owned by Northrop Grumman Corporation that are related to the anticipated effort:

Cutting Edge Optronics (CEO) and Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems (NGAS).

The efforts associated with this acquisition provide for the continuation of research, development, engineering, design/adjustment, fabrication, assembly, integration, calibration, and test of applicable laser hardware for solutions to meet the research objectives of five integrated solid state laser systems which, when combined, compose the Integrated Directed Energy

Engineering and Development (INDEED) program located at Kirtland Air Force Base, NM.

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

AGENCY'S NEEDS:

Under this effort, NGS&MSC will provide onsite technical laser research and engineering advancements for an anticipated performance period of three years (36 months) with an additional three months for final reporting.

Under the contemplated contract, NGS&MSC will provide the following:

(1) Integral to research and development efforts, the Contractor shall provide both on-site and remote laboratory and technical engineering on five high energy laser systems: Vesta II, Elektra, Asterope, Maia and SILL (located at Kirtland Air Force Base, KAFB). The contractor shall ensure that the five high energy laser systems are kept in a general state of R&D experimentation readiness and are operationally available to fulfil planned experimentation schedules.

(2) The effort is envisioned to include total system level diagnostic reviews, laser system technical analysis and overall laser system adjustments in order to match, coordinate, and execute various designated research and development experiments and efforts.

(3) To meet key research objectives, the Contractor shall perform adjustments to and calibration of internal optical laser components. Research will be focused on improving the integration with the total laboratory and the internal and external output beam characteristics from each laser system.

(4) The INDEED effort encompasses research and development performance only and is not considered a procurement for “supplies” as defined by FAR 2.101. Any part, hardware or equipment acquired under the anticipated contract will be minor and incidental to the performance of the overall research effort.

(5) The estimated total cost of the contemplated contract is $4.9M. The estimated technical period of performance of this effort is 15 September 2014 through 15 September 2017 and will be funded using Air Force Research and Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) 3600 appropriations.

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):

A total of five specific laser systems are applicable to the efforts associated with the program requirement. The first, Vesta II laser, was purchased under contract W9113M-05-C-0216 with

NGS&MSC. This contract was awarded as a result of full and open competition under RFP number W9113M-04-R-0013. The laser systems Elektra, Asterope, and Maia, were acquired under contract F29601-99-D-0003 Task Order 0004 with Cutting Edge Optronics, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Northrop Grumman. Finally, the SILL laser was obtained under contract

F33657-03-C-2021 with Northrop Grumman.

In acquiring these five laser systems, the Government accepted either “Limited” or “Commercial

Item” data rights with restrictions as part of the contract terms and conditions. The exclusive technical data rights held by NGS&MSC prevents other companies from working on critical internal components of the five laser systems as the design and components are considered

NGS&MSC proprietary information.

Specifically, NGS&MSC data rights protect the laser phasing approach, the fiber front end design, the gain modules, mirror designs and coatings. These aspects encompass critical design features that need to be understood and accessible to satisfy the Government’s requirements.

Further, the technical data held by NGS&MSC encompass proprietary information that is essential to understand how these unique systems operate. Key technology methods were developed by Northrop Grumman at private expense and therefore limited and commercial item data rights with restrictions were accepted when the Air Force purchased these systems. These data rights protect specific key technical specifications required for equipment and internal modifications to the system.

NGS&MSC and their subsidiaries also manufacture unique equipment that is essential to enable continued operations and research for these laser systems; and therefore continued operations at

AFRL/RDS. No other company possesses the necessary expertise to configure, modify or operate the highly specialized equipment, especially without access to the NGS&MSC proprietary data.

Award to any other source would result in both a substantial duplication of cost to the

Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition, as well as result in crippling and unacceptable delays in fulfilling Department of Defense solid state laser advancement requirements. The cost to award another contract to develop an alternate specialized laser system with comparable capability is expected to far exceed the costs of the original efforts, which have already been completed from contracts W9113M-05-C-0216, F33657-03-C-2021, and F29601-99-D-0003 Task Order 0004. It is estimated that efforts to redevelop equivalent laser technology from other sources would require months (not including an anticipated acquisition lead time of 24 months) and $ M in costs.

The AFRL/RDS Program Office determined these estimates by comparison to other development efforts of this complexity and magnitude as well as the actual procurement costs and timelines associated with the acquisition of the current laser systems. The comparison to other similar programs was based upon the relative complexity and magnitude only since the laser systems are truly unique and there are no other solid state systems in existence which can be utilized as a basis for cost.

Due to the integrated nature of research efforts at the Starfire Optical Range (SOR), the

AFRL/RDS Program Office has also determined that the delays associated with redeveloping similar systems would drastically impact the entire technical portfolio for the SOR site. It is anticipated that in addition to the months estimated for redevelopment that it would require upwards of months to reconcile the lack of technical advancement across the SOR portfolio.

VI. DESCRIPTION OF EFFORTS MADE TO ENSURE THAT OFFERS ARE

SOLICITED FROM AS MANY POTENTIAL SOURCES AS DEEMED PRACTICABLE:

A currently on-going, sole-source contract (FA9451-11-C-0006) entitled, “Integrated Solid State

Laser Testbed (ISSL-TB) was awarded to Northrop Grumman in June 2011. The ISSL-TB program encompasses research activities associated with the five laser systems noted above and is considered to be the predecessor to the current INDEED effort. The period of performance on the ISSL-TB contract is expected to run to September 2014. NGS&MSC currently maintains ownership of the applicable proprietary data within the Government owned laser systems and is expected to maintain ownership through the anticipated contract performance period, September

2017.

The Government conducted thorough market research to determine other potential sources capable of meeting the planned requirements. A Sources Sought Synopsis was used as one portion of the on-going market research and was published to Federal Business Opportunities on

05 Feb 2014 under identification number “FA9451-14-C-0205 Sources Sought”. The synopsis remained posted for a period of fifteen calendar days and received a total of .

responded to the synopsis. A summary of the responses is provided below:

Source Name City State CAGE Size

Northrop Grumman Aerospace

Systems (NGAS) Albuquerque NM 0MSM1 Large

*Note: Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems (NGAS) is one of four sectors within Northrop

Grumman Corporation. NGS&MSC and Cutting Edge Optronics both operate under NGAS as separate business units.

The sources sought synopsis utilized the following attributes to determine the capability of the responses:

Technical experience with high power laser systems similar to VESTA II

Technical experience with pulsed laser systems such as Elektra, Maia and SILL

Professional qualification of program management and engineering personnel

Technical experience with adaptive optics technology

Demonstrated proficiency in operating and maintaining laboratory facilities

In considering the attributes above, it was determined that the response from Northrop Grumman was the only source capable of fully meeting the described requirements. The review of responses clearly demonstrated that the responses lacked programmatic experience and technical resources needed to meet the requirements and presented significant cost, schedule and performance risk. It became apparent that the which were considered not capable would require substantial resources to develop equivalent highly specialized equipment or to acquire the necessary expertise required to sufficiently meet research objectives.

Conversely, Northrop Grumman demonstrated significant technical experience in the relevant technical areas and also possessed highly qualified personnel capable of providing the necessary technical expertise.

VII. DETERMINATION BY THE CONTRACTING OFFICER THAT THE

ANTICIPATED COST TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE:

Sole-source proposal analysis will be accomplished in accordance with FAR 15.404-1(b)(2)(ii) and FAR 15.404-1(b)(2)(vii). Certified cost or pricing data will be required. The contractor's proposed costs will be carefully examined and verified to the maximum extent possible using material quotes and actual cost data. Inputs from the AFRL/RDS Program Manager (technical and cost evaluation) and DCAA (verification of direct and indirect rates) will be used to establish a negotiation objective. Weighted Guidelines will be used to determine a fair and reasonable fee.

Thus, it is expected the resulting negotiated cost and fixed fee will be fair and reasonable for contract award.

VIII. DESCRIPTION OF THE MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AND THE

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

CONDUCTED:

Market assessment, in this case, has been primarily supported by the results of the Sources

Sought Synopsis as described in Section VI above. The market assessment confirms that due to the proprietary nature of the data rights and the limited access to this data, no other company

(beyond Northrop Grumman and their subsidiaries) possess the expertise or ability to perform the work on the solid state laser systems. The market assessment confirmed that any other company, other than NGS&MSC, requires knowledge of the systems (hardware and software) and the technical data rights from NGS&MSC to perform the requirements of the contract. The market assessment also confirmed that no other company has access to the data and/or equipment necessary to fulfill the contract requirements associated with this effort.

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

OPEN COMPETITION:

In reviewing the technical requirements of this project, the primary hurdles that limit these efforts to other than full and open competition are derived from the expertise solely possessed by

NGS&MSC and their subsidiaries and the technical data rights affiliated with the technical knowledge, inner workings, and software source code unique to the solid state laser systems.

NGS&MSC and their subsidiaries possess the data rights, coupled with unique advancements and concepts applicable to the solid state laser systems, that are key to the continued development of this highly specialized equipment. Any company that would attempt to perform this work would be forced to solicit NGS&MSC for data rights, software source code, and would have to reverse engineer the current systems to become proficient and technically acceptable.

The costs associated with implementing such efforts far outweigh any cost or schedule savings that might be recouped via unrestricted full and open competition.

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:

In advance of this current acquisition, the Government issued a pre-challenge request for information (DFARS 252.227-7037(d)) to Northrop Grumman regarding potential non-conforming data rights and the validity of the data rights associated with the five laser systems.

The challenge of asserted data rights was initiated to determine whether this particular barrier to competition could be removed.

In coordination with the AFNWC/JAN Legal Office, the Government conducted a review of supporting documentation from contracts WP113-05-0216, F33657-03-C-2021 and F29601-99-

D-0003 Task Order 0004 to determine the validity of the asserted rights since the laser systems were originally developed under these contracts. After thoroughly reviewing the previous contract and supporting documentation, it was affirmed that Northrop Grumman did indeed possess limited and/or commercial item data rights with restrictions.

The Government also conducted a review of the previously submitted technical data rights to evaluate whether the data was properly marked and delivered. AFRL/RDS conducted the review and determined that all data rights had been delivered as asserted and that the submitted items were properly marked. Following the review of data rights markings, AFRL/RDS also conducted a review of the public forum to determine if Northrop Grumman had published or otherwise released data rights information, thereby nullifying the assertions. The program office confirmed that Northrop Grumman had not released asserted information into the public forum and that the technical data rights are viewed to be valid.

Additionally, the Government has tried to remove the barriers to competition by acquiring the necessary technical data rights from Northrop Grumman in order to compete the requirement.

The AFRL/RDS program office has engaged Northrop Grumman in the past and the response has consistently been that Northrop Grumman is not considering the sale of any technical data related to the INDEED laser systems.

XII. CONTRACTING OFFICER'S CERTIFICATION:

The Contracting Officer's signature on the Coordination and Approval Document evidences that she has determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of her knowledge and belief (FAR 6.303-2(b)(12)).

XIII. TECHNICAL/REQUIREMENTS PERSONNEL'S CERTIFICATION:

As evidenced by their signatures on the Coordination and Approval Document, 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)).