GATOR Transitional Development and Engineering Sustainment JA_Redacted.pdf

The ability to provide transitional development and sustaining engineering support for the G/ATOR system, operated and maintained by the warfighter, depends on the use of the same complex engineering and technical data used in the design and development process by NGSC.

Prior to award of Contract M67854-07-C-2072, NGSC and their primary subcontractor, SAAB Defense and Security USA, asserted restrictions on the Government’s rights in delivered technical data and software related to the design of G/ATOR. As a result, the Government has limited rights in technical data and restricted rights to use computer software for some aspects of the G/ATOR. NGSC and their primary subcontractor have continued to assert restrictions in the Government’s rights to technical data and computer software under contract M67854-15-C-0230 and the follow-on LRIP contract M67854-16-C-0211, asserting that some of the technical data and software was developed exclusively at private expense. Due to these continued assertions, the Government does not anticipate the ability to gain additional rights to technical data.

On June 7, 2019, the Government awarded NGSC contract M67854-19-C-0043 to procure 30 GaN Full Rate Production (FRP) units, Initial Provisioning Package, Level 3 Technical Data Package (TDP), and Retrofit Kits for GaAs LRIP Systems. The Government plans to procure the transitional development and sustaining support for the production systems, as well as existing LRIP systems already in the hands of the warfighter, through a Basic Ordering Agreement. The Government’s request for information (RFI) for sustaining engineering and logistics support specifically noted a significant amount of technical data and software remains proprietary to NGSC and its subcontractors and is not releasable to sources outside the Government.

In order to contract with a contractor other than NGSC to provide transitional development and sustaining engineering support to the G/ATOR, the Government would need to provide the selected vendor with a comprehensive TDP, for which the Government currently has government purpose rights or for some aspects only limited rights. NGCS has asserted restrictions to the Government’s rights to significant portions of the G/ATOR’s TDP and will not allow third party vendors access to these portions. Without full access to the entire TDP, a third party vendor will be unable to perform properly and efficiently the required support actions without significant re-engineering or reverse engineering of proprietary NGCS software and hardware. Reengineering efforts would require the provisioning of new parts and extensive changes to operations and maintenance technical documentation prior to their incorporation into the existing systems and system TDP. Re-engineering of existing hardware or software would require significant investment in time and money in addition to changes to the TDP and system configuration.

The Marine Corps has invested $ of PMC and RDT&E funding in the development and production of the existing G/ATOR systems. The cost estimate for this requirement uses as it basis the G/ATOR Sunk Cost Report dated October 7, 2019. Sustainment efforts for the G/ATOR system will provide through a combination of Government support activities and NGSC, with NGSC providing support for the products the Government has determined to contain proprietary products, software, and systems developed by NGSC.

Re-engineering or replacing the NGSC proprietary products, components and software would result in the Government incurring a substantial duplication of costs and an increased probability of complicated divisions in the configuration baseline. This would also increase operating costs, support costs and induce significant programmatic, logistics and operational delays, which would impede support to the warfighter.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Solicit Offers from as Many Offerors as Practicable

In accordance with FAR 5.201, on May 14, 2020 the Government published an RFI, M67854-20-I- 0066 to Beta.SAM.gov to assess industry’s capability to provide ongoing transitional development and engineering support; to include Software Support Activity Transition, GWLR Performance Improvements, and Low/Slow/Small Capability Development. The RFI specifically notified industry that a significant amount of technical data and software remained proprietary to NGSC and its subcontractors and would not be releasable to sources outside the Government.

NGSC was the sole respondent to the RFI. The Government's subject matter experts reviewed NGSC’s response and came to the following conclusion: Based on the Government’s knowledge and experience associated with the nuances of the G/ATOR radar it has concluded that NGSC is the only known source qualified. NGSC is the only source to provide transitional development and sustaining engineering support for G/ATOR systems based on NGSC’s acute knowledge, expertise, and capability, as well as access to NGSC proprietary technical data. The Program Manager signed the “Market Research Report for AN/TPS-80, Ground/Air Task Oriented Radar (G/ATOR) Transitional Development and Engineering Support” on June 4, 2020.

NGSC is uniquely qualified to sustain G/ATOR systems because it not only developed the full slate of technical data and computer software necessary to support G/ATOR systems, but also retains a workforce of individuals with actual hands-on experience building G/ATOR systems. All technical data required to manufacture and test G/ATOR discrete parts, subassemblies, Line Replaceable Units, and the entire G/ATOR system have been generated, reviewed, cataloged, and currently exist within the NGSC manufacturing data system. As a result, a comprehensive and up-to-date manufacturing data package will be in place at NGSC upon the start of the transitional development and sustaining support program. NGSC’s unencumbered access to technical data and computer software will prove beneficial to the Marine Corps during this period through the avoidance of knowledge gaps or errors in interpretation. NGSC’s demonstrated capability in manufacturing G/ATOR systems ensures the Marine Corps will avoid duplicative costs or a costly start-up investment that would be required to initiate a new sustainment process.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost

In accordance with FAR 15.402, Pricing Policy, the Contracting Officer will ensure that all supplies and services covered by this J&A are procured at a fair and reasonable price. In accordance with FAR 15.404-1, Proposal Analysis, the Contracting Officer will perform a price analysis for the UCA when a proposal is received and before the contract action is definitized to evaluate reasonableness of the offered price or cost analysis to evaluate the reasonableness of the individual cost elements of the Contractor’s proposal. The Contractor will be required to submit a formal proposal with certified cost and pricing data and sufficient information to support the accuracy and reliability of their estimate.

The technical analysts and contract specialists from the G/ATOR Program Management Office (PMO), will perform an analysis of the proposal with the assistance of the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) and Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) auditors as needed.

The Contracting Officer will analyze the various cost elements presented in the proposal, as well as review the actuals from previous procurements. The Contracting Officer will use Government expertise, including DCMA, DCAA, and other Government resources, to evaluate the proposal’s material, labor, subcontractor and Other Direct Costs positions. Furthermore, the Government will also utilize an Independent Government Cost Estimate as part of the evaluation of the proposal to validate the fair and reasonable price. As discussed in this paragraph, the Contracting Officer will use cost and price analysis as the basis for negotiating a fair and reasonable price for the supplies/support covered by this J&A.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition.

For the reasons set forth in paragraph 5, PEO LS has no plans to compete future contracts for the types of supplies/services covered by this document. However, the Program continues to implement and expand Should Cost and Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) breakout initiatives to reduce the cost of the G/ATOR systems and other subcomponents. If another potential source emerges, PEO LS will assess whether competition for future requirements is feasible. Any future actions will be reviewed by PEO LS to offer competition to the greatest extent possible.