JA17-015_SBS0017_JA_USMC_ENROUTE_C4_JA_20170104_Redacted.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND

OPEN COMPETITION (OTFAOC)

Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Part 6 Justification & Approval (J&A), Supporting

Procurements under FAR Part 12, FAR Subpart 13.5, and FAR Part 15

Purchase Request Number: SBS0017

Contract Number: To be determined

Task/Delivery Order Number: Not Applicable (N/A)

Procurement Title: Marine Corps Airborne Commercial Satellite Communications Support

Estimated Value:

Limited Source Authority: 10 United States Code (U.S.C.) §2304(c)(1) and Federal Acquisition

Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1.

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION (OTFAOC)

Justification for OTFAOC Number:

Upon the basis of the following justification, I, as Head of the Contracting Activity, hereby approve the use of OTFAOC of the proposed contractual action pursuant to the authority of 10 United States

Code (U.S.C.) §2304(c)(1).

1. REQUIRING AGENCY AND CONTRACTING OFFICE:

(a) Requiring Agency:

Commandant of the Marine Corps

(b) Contracting Office:

Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA)/ Defense Information Technology Contracting

2. NATURE/DESCRIPTION OF ACTION(S):

This OTFAOC J&A is for a new Headquarters, United States (U.S.) Marine Corps C4, firm fixed price

(FFP) contract to support the Marine Corps’ requirements for airborne broadband satellite communications (SATCOM). This subscription service and the required terrestrial backhaul will provide intelligence to Troop Commanders and Mission Force while aboard KC-130 and MV-22 aircraft. While aboard these aircraft personnel are isolated from updated/current Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) due to limited airborne communications in many areas. This contracting action is to establish a sole source contract providing commercial Mobile Broadband SATCOM Service (Ku bandwidth) in connection with the

Marine Corps Airborne COMSATOM Support

Page 2 of 7 Pages operation of the Ku-band Spread Spectrum (KuSS) System from March 1, until February 28, plus four option periods. This service will be provided by ViaSat Global Network (VGN) tiered service regions and standard services at enhanced data rates in other regions

3. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES:

(a) The Marine Corps Enroute C4 requirement is for airborne SATCOM services. These services are sold as subscriptions known as Simultaneous Operations (SIMOPs). SIMOPs provide Troop

Commanders and Mission Force with ‘Office in the Sky’ capabilities—uninterruptible and seamless connectivity to networks; voice, video, and data; and capabilities available in their office environments—while traveling via aircraft. Marine Corps Enroute C4 requires multiple worldwide

Ku-band SIMOPs with varying service levels to meet the Troop Commanders and Mission Force

Command, Control, and Communications System - Airborne (SLC3S-A) requirements for airborne command and control communications on the move. This Marine Corps requirement is for global coverage of internet access at up to .512 megabits per second (Mbps) on Return Link (RL) and 1

Mbps on Forward Link (FL). Managed Private Communication Services are in support of and shall be compatible with the C-130 and MV-22 Hatch Mount Terminal. SIMOP service levels are defined by the data rate, or a range of possible data rates, in megabits per second (Mbps) for the forward link (earth terminal to aircraft) and return link (aircraft to earth terminal). SIMOPs include space segment, teleport services, access to the public internet, and backhaul to a Government point of presence (PoP) in a single subscription service. Marine Corps Enroute C4 requires SIMOP subscriptions to be shared and transferable among aircraft.

The Government requires 6 SIMOPs in the base period, from March 01, to February 28, The Government requires 8 SIMOPs in option period one, from March 01, to February

28, .

The Government requires 12 SIMOPs in option periods two through four, from March 01, to February 28, .

(b) The contractor shall provide the ability to apply additional bandwidth "surge" SIMOPs services as

Marine Corps requirements change. Surge is the addition of SIMOPs in a specific area for a period of time as determined by the Marine Corps.

(c) FAR 52.217-8 (Option to Extend Services) will be included to allow the Government to avoid a break in service if the follow-on full-and-open competition contract for services is delayed. The estimated cost if this option if exercised is equal to the estimateof the second 6-month option period.

(d) The estimated life cycle cost of this sole source contract is as broken out in the table below.

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Period of Performance Estimated Cost

Base Period (March 01, to February 28, )

Option Period 1 (March 01, to February 28, )

Option Period 2 (March 01, to February 28, )

Option Period 3 (March 01, to February 28, )

Option Period 4 (March 01, to February 28, )

Estimated Surge Costs During Life Cycle

Total Estimated Life Cycle Cost w/Surge Costs

4. IDENTIFICATION OF STATUTORY AUTHORITY:

Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, 10

U.S.C.2304(c)(1). (FAR 6.302-1/DFARS 206.302-1)

5. DEMONSTRATION OF CONTRACTOR’S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS:

(a) Description of events.

In March the United States Marine Corps (USMC) contracted with ViaSat to install the KuSS

Hatch System mobile SATCOM terminal on C-130 aircraft consisting of a VR-12H Antenna

Assembly and a roll-on/roll-off Flexible In-Vehicle (aircraft)-Equipment (F-IVE) transit case containing the ArcLight2 modem. This action was based on the urgent universal needs statement dated

December 14, to meet Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force ENROUTE C4 requirements; which documented a decision to obtain Marine Requirements Oversight Council

(MROC) approval for this action.

(b) Justification.

(1) Minimum Government requirements.

The Government requires global airborne communications on the move to allow senior leaders to command, control, and communicate while in flight with access to the same resources they have on the ground. ViaSat provides a worldwide high bandwidth mobile SATCOM service, featuring shared global services, and private managed networks, for both commercial and government customers.

(2) Proposed sole source contractor.

The proposed sole source contractor is ViaSat Inc.,

(3) Discussion regarding cause of the sole source situation.

Airborne communications on the move services is an emerging market with few competitors.

Currently, service providers offer proprietary equipment that will only work with that provider’s proprietary services. The ViaSat Arclight modems use a proprietary waveform that also makes them compatible only with service provided through an Arclight Hub. At this

Marine Corps Airborne COMSATOM Support-

Page 4 of 7 Pages time, ViaSat is the only vendor that provides a commercially available service utilizing an

Arclight Hub. In addition, the ViaSat modem sends controls that operate the VR-12 antenna.

The coding used to send communications between the modem and the antenna control unit is also proprietary to ViaSat making the entire radio frequency chain (antenna, antenna control unit, modem) unable to be altered with equipment other than ViaSat equipment. The combination of antenna and modem restrictions locks the installed equipment to use only

ViaSat and currently there is no way to bypass these restrictions.

(4) Demonstration of unique source.

The manufacturer of the aircraft antenna is ViaSat. Both the VR-12H antenna and Arclight2 modem which are installed on the Aircraft are proprietary to ViaSat. The Government can only procure service compatible with the proprietary hardware installed on the aircraft. The only provider of commercial airborne communications on the move services with global coverage at the Government’s required data rates that is compatible with the newly installed hardware and existing modems is ViaSat’s airborne communications on the move services. A

Request for Information in July resulted in one response from ViaSat and verified that

ViaSat is the only provider of global Ku- services compatible with the equipment installed on the aircraft and that ViaSat does not offer the service through value-added resellers. ViaSat confirmed this is still the case in an email to DITCO October 25, .

(5) Procurement discussion.

Although ViaSat is a prime contractor on General Services Administration (GSA)

Schedule 70 SIN 132-55, their Schedule offering does not meet the coverage and terrestrial component requirements for the Marine Corps. Therefore, this effort is a stand-alone sole source contract to ViaSat using open market procedures.

This is not a bridge contract.

This service was not previously acquired.

(6) Impact. The Troop Commander and Mission Force in the Marine Corps

Command Area of Responsibility inside KC-130 and MV-22 are isolated from updated/current

Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and

Reconnaissance (C4ISR) while enroute to an objective due to limited airborne, on-the-move

(OTM), beyond line of site (BLOS) network capable communications assets available to an initial entry force. Specifically, the need to have in flight data and voice capability that maintains connectivity between the response force and airborne jump command post (CP) and the SPMAGTF Commander during long transits. This need will be met by the Enroute

Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and

Reconnaissance (C4ISR) capability. Enroute C4 capability requires the use of ViaSat bandwidth and the VGN. Without the availability of ViaSat bandwidth and the VGN could lead to mission failure or cause an unnecessary loss of life.

6. FEDERAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES (FEDBIZOPPS) ANNOUNCEMENT/POTENTIAL

SOURCES:

A Sources Sought was issued July 9, seeking information for potential sources for airborne communications satellite services to be provided by the contractor specifically for ViaSat services.

Page 5 of 7 Pages

The Government received one response. ViaSat responded that the VGN meets the requirement using the specified equipment installed on the aircraft. ViaSat is the only provider of this service and does not offer the service through value-added resellers. The Government confirmed on October 25, that there are no value added providers/resellers. A synopsis for this action will be published on the

FedBizOpps website, as required by FAR 5.201.

7. DETERMINATION OF FAIR AND REASONABLE COST:

(a) Pricing sources for the independent Government cost estimate include GSA Schedule 70 schedule holders GSA price catalogs, industry reports, historical data, commercial websites, and direct contact with industry for pricing not otherwise available. The price of the requested services varies dependent on the required throughput, locations, frequency band, and term of service (among other factors) being requested by the Government.

(b) The Contracting Officer (KO) will determine whether ViaSat's proposed price is fair and reasonable before award. Additionally, other than certified cost and pricing data will be requested from the contractor at the time of solicitation. Evaluation of the supporting price documentation will be analyzed. The contractor-proposed pricing will be compared to an Independent

Government Cost Estimate, the contractor’s commercial price list or catalog, and other contracts for similar services. Based on this analysis, the KO will negotiate a fair and reasonable price.

8. MARKET RESEARCH:

(a) Market research, including the Sources Sought posted in July 2015, indicates that there is only one source for the required services. A Sources Sought announcement was posted to FBO on July 9, with responses due July 23, seeking information for potential sources for airborne communications satellite services to be provided by the Contractor specifically for ViaSat Exede

Ku-band services. The Government received one response. ViaSat responded that the ViaSat

Global Network (VGN) meets the requirement using the specified equipment installed on the aircraft. ViaSat has existing networks and services that offer the coverage and data rates that meet

Government’s requirement and are compatible with the aircraft hardware. ViaSat is the only provider of this service and does not offer the service through value-added resellers. The

Government confirmed on October 25, that there are no value added providers/resellers.

(b) DISA contracts awarded in the last year as well as other Market Research have shown that ViaSat is the only contractor capable of providing the required services. A complete review of the entire

GSA price listing for contract vehicles 132-54 and 132-55 was recently performed and it was determined that no other contractors offered the required service anywhere in their GSA schedules.

Finally, a single sources sought response received on July 23, , clearly demonstrated ViaSat to be the only contractor that can provide this service and that there are no third party contractors of the service. This is because ViaSat utilizes proprietary hardware equipment and communication waveforms that operate only with ViaSat subscription services.

9. ANY OTHER SUPPORTING FACTS:

N/A

Page 6 of 7 Pages

10. LISTING OF INTERESTED SOURCES:

Contractor Name Business Category Contract Vehicle

ViaSat, Inc. Large Business Open Market

11. ACTIONS THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME BARRIERS THAT

LED TO THE EXCEPTION TO FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION:

(a) Procurement History.

(1) Contract numbers: M67854-15-C2605 March 20, .

(2) Competitive status of these actions. Completed

(3) Type of set aside: Unrestricted

(b) Both the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force are currently exploring a technology procurement that will allow lease of services through full and open competition. In 2015 Air Mobility Command

(AMC) began an effort to replace proprietary aircraft hardware with new hardware that allows use of non-proprietary satellite communications services through an open source architecture known as

Open Antenna Modem Interface Protocol (AMIP). Procurement of the aircraft hardware with the

Open AMIP+ specification is being accomplished through other contracting means within the Air

Force and is separate from procurement of the subscription services. The procurement of the open architecture equipment includes technical documents that, when provided with the competitive

Request for Proposals (RFP), will allow bidders to offer modems and services compatible with the aircraft equipment. A competitive RFP for SLC3S-A Aero Mobile Satellite Service (AMSS) II was released in October along with a bidder’s library of technical specification documents.

Due to delays in the procurement of aircraft hardware, the bidder’s library was incomplete and did not include specifications for Open AMIP+. During the RFP vendor question period, it was determined that without these technical specifications, bidders do not have sufficient information to prepare a proposal and the RFP was subsequently cancelled.

This U.S. Marine Corps ViaSat VGN contract is necessary to ensure service to the aircraft after the new antenna hardware is installed and until an open architecture (i.e., non-proprietary) interface is available. The U.S. Marine Corps plans to leverage the procurement of open architecture technology in order to procure services competitively after this technology becomes available.

12. REFERENCE TO THE APPROVED ACQUISITION PLAN (AP):

In accordance with the exceptions under DISA Acquisition Regulation Supplement 7.103 (S-91) an acquisition plan is not required.

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TECHNICAL CERTIFICATION: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the J&A are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

NAME: SIGNATURE:

TITLE/ORGANIZATION:

PHONE: DATE:

REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the J&A are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: MAGTF Tactical Networks/HQMC C4-CS

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

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: Contracting Officer/ DISA DITCO PL8222

HEAD OF THE CONTRACTING ACTIVITY APPROVAL: I have reviewed this justification and find it to be accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. Since this justification for

OTFAOC does not exceed $93M, this review serves as approval.

TITLE/ORGANIZATION: Head of Contracting Activity/DISA

ALL QUESTIONS REGARDING THIS JUSTIFICATION ARE TO BE REFERRED TO

Contracting Officer, or , Contract Specialist,