Final JA_Redacted.pdf

DEFENSE THREAT REDUCTION AGENCY

8725 JOHN J. KINGM AN ROAD, STOP 6201

FORT BELVOIR, VA 22060-6201

CLASS JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Nature and/or Description of Action

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) contracting activity proposes to procure, without using full and open competition, a continuing effort entitled “Research & Development Directorate Advisory and Assistance Service Support” via a contract modification to the current Research & Development Advisory and Assistance Services contracts with ARServices, Limited (ARServices) and Systems Planning and Analysis, Inc. (SPA).

2. Description of the Supplies/Services Required

The proposed 12-month base effort, with two, 6-month option periods, will extend Programmatic Support for the Program Management Office (PMO), currently contracted to ARServices under contract HDTRA1-21-C-0042 and Scientific & Technical (S&T) Subject Matter Expertise (SME), currently contracted to SPA under contract HDTRA1-21-C-0054, as Advisory and Assistance Services (A&AS) SME capabilities to the DTRA Research and Development (RD) Directorate.

ARServices and SPA currently hold contracts that are scheduled to end 15 January 2026. This action will provide a bridge of continuity for essential A&AS support for a period of up to 24 months until the follow-on award(s) are made (either through RD directly or at the Agency level). The tasks of these efforts include support of research, planning, design, acquisition, development, implementation, integration, test, application, and evaluation of emerging and mature science and technologies and developing transitioning capabilities to DTRA customers.

Specific focus areas include:

Providing S&T SME expertise across the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, and High-Yield Explosives (CBRNE) spectrum in support of the Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction (CWMD) and Countering Emerging Threats (CET) missions and objectives

Providing PMO expertise across the CWMD and CET missions and objectives in support of planning, programming, budgeting and execution of projects, programs and portfolios

Providing CBRNE, CWMD, and CET policy expertise in support of RD Directorate missions and objectives.

The RD Directorate is responsible for the technical, managerial and staff functions necessary to plan, program, budget, and execute a comprehensive and integrated RD program in order to implement fiscal actions to meet the requirements of the DoD Combatant Commands (CCMD) and the Services. RD is the lead for evaluating the potential for integration and/or synergy effects from all DTRA research, development, test and evaluation (RDT&E) activities among multiple Directorates. RD relies on the unbiased PMO and S&T SME to act as a “trusted agent” for the RD Directorate both internally and externally in the course of daily execution of specified and implied missions. Activities range from basic research through advanced component development and prototypes. RD’s portfolio includes integration of technologies, Advanced Technology Demonstrations (ATDs), Joint Capabilities Technology Demonstrations (JCTDs), Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR), CCMD engagement, Service support of Joint Urgent Operational Needs (JUONs), Joint Emerging Operational Needs (JEON) taskings, and international collaborative efforts. Rapid development and demonstrations of specialized Weapons of Mass Destruction threat reduction capabilities, CET capabilities, and consideration of their end-to-end support may also occur. RD also advises and assists in the management of the joint science and technology component of DoD’s Chemical and Biological Defense Program (CBDP). Performing this mission requires coordinating and managing extensive and complex RDT&E activities performed by the DoD, national laboratories, industry, academia, Services, other Government agencies, and foreign Governments.

The estimated extension cost for the PMO is $53,282,673 and $33,012,367 for the S&T SME, resulting in an increase of the total value of HDTRA1-21-C-0042 to $194,805,913 and HDTRA1-21-C-0054 to $197,758,258. The performance period of the existing contracts will be extended for a minimum of 12 months with the option to extend performance up to one additional year via two, 6-month option periods, resulting in extended coverage from 16 January 2026 through 15 January 2028.

3. Statutory Authority

The statutory authority for this non-competitive action is 10 United States Code (U.S.C.)

3204(a)(1), as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii)(B), Only one responsible source and no other services will satisfy agency requirements (10 U.S.C.

3204[b][B]).

4. Applicability of Authority

This bridge is necessary to continue essential support while a new acquisition effort/strategy for the follow-on RD A&AS requirement is developed and executed in line with EO 14222 and the 27 May 2025 SECDEF implementation guidance. ARServices and SPA currently hold contracts providing PMO and S&T SME support to the RD Directorate, to which this proposed action would extend. The Government will receive critical A&AS support for a multitude of RD Directorate activities. The services for this extension are deemed to be available only from the original sources for the continued provision of highly specialized services. It is likely that award to any other source would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements.

The competitive procurement process involves several complex phases and the necessary timeline to achieve follow-on A&AS award(s) would result in a gap in service. Any break in service of the support provided will significantly and negatively impact the ability for DTRA to meet its mission requirements.

Without the continuation of RD A&AS support from the existing contracts, the RD Directorate will not be able to fully and effectively support the agency mission-essential tasks in support of the DoD Strategic Plan and Service and CCMD critical missions. This bridging effort is required to ensure that DoD and the U.S. Government have the required programmatic, scientific & technical expertise, programs, tools, and capabilities to protect against the CWMD and CET mission areas.

This expertise is required for DTRA to execute its unique mission to provide research, development and modernization of technologies for: countering weapons of mass destruction (CWMD); hardened and deeply buried target (HDBT) defeat and assessment; modeling and simulation for HDBT

, nuclear detection, monitoring and verification systems; operations in a nuclear environment; medical and physical countermeasures for weapons of mass destruction exposures/potential exposure; systems survivability in extreme environments (i.e., post nuclear detonation or chemical / biological / radiological contamination); and DTRA’s Technical Reachback capabilities. The effort supports science, technology, and capability development investments in order to maintain the U.S.

military's technological superiority in countering WMD, modernize the nuclear stockpile, disrupt and defeat HDBT threats, and mitigate the risks of technical surprise by responding to warfighter urgent technical requirements. The technical nature of DTRA programs require unique experience with the CWMD mission and supporting technologies.

Further, without this critical A&AS support to the RD Directorate portfolio planning, management, and execution activities, the following mission impacts would occur through the gap to follow-on A&AS award(s):

1) Negatively impacts all requirements engagements with all CCMDs, as the volume of capabilities, requests, and engagements necessitates facilitation of those relationships with A&AS support. The breadth and depth of the RD program necessitate a large team to help handle this capacity of engagements, and without contractor support, these engagements will be delayed causing impacts to the RD program in being able to understand the CCMD requirements, identify the technical gaps and propose technical solutions, degrading warfighting CWMD, and CET capabilities. For instance, requirements are supported by a broad swath of RD programs, and generally necessitate highly classified communication, coordination, and program oversight. The federal staff conducts all oversight, and utilizes subject matter expertise from within the A&AS contractor workforce to conduct communication and coordination activities to ensure these sensitive mission requirements are met as quickly and effectively as possible. The loss of the coordinating capacity of the A&AS team for even six months has the potential to delay requirements validation and fulfillment by more than that time, which is a non-starter for these critical mission partners. This no-fail mission space would then either suffer, or draw scant resources from other programs, leading to additional delays across the broader RD portfolio.

2) A&AS support contractors continue to support and engage on strategic nuclear effects and Conventional Nuclear Integration issues of extreme importance to and is part of the objective. While federal staff are well-versed in these areas as well, the depth of knowledge is supported by specific subject matter expertise found within the A&AS contractor workforce. The loss of their support for even 6 months will delay requirements analysis and deliveries of analysis capabilities to by over a year due to the loss of capacity.

3) A&AS provides critical programmatic and technical support as trusted agents in the research, planning, design, acquisition, development, implementation, integration, test, and transitioning of CWMD and CET capabilities to the warfighter. A&AS perform as trusted agents, providing specialized scientific and technical expertise, analysis and independent validation and verification activities in support of the Government program managers planning, managing and executing their programs with the objective of transitioning tested CWMD and CET capabilities to the warfighter. Without A&AS to fulfill these trusted agent roles, the end result will be Government program managers taking longer to develop, test, integrate and transition warfighter capabilities, while raising the serious prospect of providing lower fidelity capable products to the warfighter.

4) A&AS support is critical to the DTRA Nuclear Technologies Department (NT). RD-NT conducts research and development to include testing and evaluation that support the nuclear deterrent by quantifying nuclear weapons effects, ensuring system survivability, and supporting and prevent attacks against the United States and its allies by verifying nuclear treaty compliance and locating and identifying nuclear threats. At any one time, RD-NT has several one-of-a-kind developmental systems, processes and prototypes in technology transition. To assist U.S. Government staff, A&AS subject matter experts provide technical assessments, identify and draft risk mitigation approaches, and track inter-Service, interagency, and international activities relating to capability demonstrations. Without A&AS personnel, the impact is: delaying advanced technology support to warfighters, and not providing the improved offensive and defense capabilities required by the Services, and Joint Staff. For instance, A&AS supports RD-NT efforts to provide tests and evaluations of critical defense and national infrastructures relating to Electromagnetic Pulse Effects (EMP). EMP testing of is essential to maintain l . RD-NT routinely provides subject matter expertise on emerging issues, and training events, to include rapid response through DTRA’s Reachback. DTRA RD-NT A&AS are highly qualified, and expertly familiar in developmental modeling and simulations, and leading edge computational methods to answer urgent requests by DTRA Reachback, and other DoD entities, e.g., the . So, in addition to supporting innovative developmental program execution, RD-NT A&AS provided critical, time-sensitive technical activities in support of mission critical analyses and requests for information for DoD, the Services and the CCMDs.

5) Required on-site office staffing support for Nevada Test activities is currently performed by A&AS to ensure all safety and security test critical requirements are correctly staffed and executed with all issues resolved prior to test execution. If A&AS support were not available during this time, the on-site office space would not be staffed as required by security, potentially leading to portions of the program being shut-down due to security issues. While DTRA Government staff would have to attempt to cover these functions, this effort would be very burdensome and cause a large travel increase to the off-site building.

6) Essential support work for executing the Mission Critical Large Caliber Penetrator (LCP) program is provided by A&AS. If there is no A&AS support, the program teams' ability to plan and coordinate for upcoming tests will be severely hampered, resulting in failure to meet customer and the Director Operational Test and Evaluation (DOT&E) waypoint milestones while delaying expensive tests. Without this support, essential functions will lapse resulting in significantly delayed responses to leadership taskings and required RFIs, further delaying required testing events which would delay delivering required capabilities to the CCMDs.

7) A&AS are an integral part of the DTRA Test and Assessment Department (RD-TS) test team for RDT&E test programs requiring scaled and full-scale testing; this includes the entire spectrum of CBRNE and CET. Their role is to provide the critical support to the RD Directorate testing activities, to include supporting the planning and coordinating of upcoming tests and performing by developing and managing the Resource Loaded Schedule required to manage and execute the individual test programs, while coordinating with external customers to ensure requirements, analyses and funding activities are executed against the Resource Loaded Schedule. Without A&AS support there will be delays in planning and managing the test efforts across the different test environments and locations, along with delays in test execution which will delay getting required CWMD and CET capabilities to the Services and CCMDs.

The tasks above are a sample, but not all inclusive, of what the impacts would be without the continuation of the RD A&AS support from the existing contracts. Given the likely gap in service without this bridge action, the extensions will enable the DTRA to leverage the incumbents’ detailed knowledge and capabilities to provide A&AS services with continued performance in support of the RD mission. The minimum of a one year extension, with options providing up to a two year total duration will successfully mitigate risk and support continuity until the competitive awards are made and effectively transitioned.

5. Effort to Solicit Potential Sources

Given that the A&AS support for these extensions is deemed to be available only from the original sources for the continued provision of highly specialized services without delay, potential sources were not sought for these requirements. It is likely that award to any other source would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements and any break in service of the support provided will significantly and negatively impact the ability for DTRA to meet its mission requirements. As such, a waiver to the Request for Information (RFI) requirement was approved by the Head of the Contracting Activity (HCA) in accordance with DFARS PGI 206.302-1. A notice of the proposed contract action will be published on SAM.gov as required by FAR 5.2, Synopses of Proposed Contract Actions.

6. Fair and Reasonable Costs

Once proposals addressing the cost/price of this contract action to the Government are received, a full cost and price analysis will be conducted, based on field pricing support, input/evaluation from the project office, comparisons with historical information, and certified cost and pricing data, to determine the fairness and reasonableness of the proposed costs.

7. Market Research

For the follow-on RD A&AS requirement, multiple industry days were conducted and two Requests for Information (RFIs) were issued on SAM.gov to gather information from potential vendors about their capabilities. Based on this market research, adequate competition is expected. However, based on the limited duration, urgent nature, and specialized expertise required, the incumbents are the only viable sources to support the requirement and transition to the new competitively awarded efforts in the future. Contract performance validates that ARServices and SPA are fully qualified to support these bridge extensions.

8. Other Facts

The follow-on A&AS acquisition began planning mid-2024 but had to switch program managers mid-year due to reassignment. At that point, the program was a few months late, but was expecting to require less time with the use of GSA contracting vehicles. Both the program management and contracting office were moving out on a significantly streamlined strategy. At present, due to realized budget cuts from the SECDEF in late February 2025, the current funding for the A&AS contracts across the FYDP has been reduced by over 30% in the FY27 – FY31POM. This has led to a total relook at the acquisition strategy for the follow-on A&AS effort and possibly driving to a whole new strategy. With this impact to the acquisition strategy, DTRA anticipates awards will be delayed to the end of first quarter 2028.

9. Interested Sources

Not applicable.

10. Subsequent Actions

While this extension is in place the new acquisition strategy will be worked in-line with current DoD and Executive Order guidance. The goal is to compete and award the follow-on A&AS support while the bridge contracts are in effect .

Technical Certification

I certify that the data and information forming the basis for this justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Program Manager Date

Contracting Officer Certification

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Contracting Officer Date

General Counsel Coordination

This justification is legally sufficient.

Attorney Date

Competition Advocate Coordination

Based on the above justification, I hereby approve accomplishment of this acquisition by means other than using full and open competition.

Competition Advocate Date

Approval

Based on the above justification, I hereby approve accomplishment of this acquisition by means other than using full and open competition.

Head of Contracting Activity Date