JA-00209 Tow Bar W56HZV-22-D-0011 Redacted.pdf

CMO Control Number: 2020-102

CONTROLLED BY: DOA, TACOM, PEO CS&CSS, PM FP, SKOT, ACC

CATEGORY(IES): OPSEC

Distribution/Dissemination Controls: FEDCON

DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT A. Approved for Public Release.

Other requests for this document shall be referred to: SFAE-CSS/Security, 6501 E. 11 Mile Road, MS 332, Warren, Ml 48397-5000, COM (586) 282-0266, DSN 786-0266

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Agency: Army Contracting Command-Detroit Arsenal (ACC-DTA).

2. Description of Action: ACC-DTA proposes to award a New Five Year, Firm-Fixed- Price, Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ), contract to HDT Expeditionary Systems, INC.(HDT) (Cage 92878), for National Stock Number (NSN) 4910-01-554- 7296, TOWBAR, MOTOR VEHICLE. This towbar is used on the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles (FMTV), and the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV). Army Working Capital Funds (AWCF) will be used.

3. Description of Supplies/Services: The NSN 4910-01-554-7296, Manufacturer Part Number 106900, Government Part Number 12424566 is used by units for rapid recovery of disabled vehicles. This towbar has a manufacturer rating weight limit of 65,000 LBS in a retracted position. The tow bar is used on FMTV and HMMWV (M998 & M1114) vehicles for recovery operations. The deliverables are as follows: 396 minimum quantity, 7,505 maximum quantity. The estimated minimum value of $674,091.00 and a maximum value of this contract is $12,775,386 based on a unit price of $1,702.

4. Authority Cited: The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition for this effort is 10 United States Code (U.S.C.) 2304(c)(1) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii), Supplies may be deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of a follow-on contract for the continued development or production of a major system or highly specialized equipment, including major components thereof, when it is likely that award to any other source would result in (B) Unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements.

5. Reason for Authority Cited: A tow bar is a device attached to the chassis of a disabled vehicle for towing. It can take the form of a tow ball to allow swiveling and articulation of a trailer, or a tow pin, or a tow hook with a trailer loop, often used for large or agricultural vehicles where slack in the pivot pin allows similar movements. Another category is the towing pintle used on military vehicles worldwide.

HDT designed, prototyped, and passed Government qualification, form, fit, function, performance, and durability test to become an approved source. HDT has the requisite

Other requests for this document shall be referred to: SFAE-CSS/Security, 6501 E. 11 Mile Road, MS 332, Warren, Ml 48397-5000, technical and engineering expertise to perform all efforts required to provide the supplies and services identified in this J&A. HDT is the sole owner of the Technical Data Package (TDP) for the towbar. HDT has the unique and proven qualities and capabilities - facilities, resources, and manufacturing and development experience - to produce the item. The Government does not have the pertinent technical data to enable competitive re-procurement. The Contract Specialist sent an email to HDT on 03 April 2020 to inquire about the sale of the TDP for the Towbar, Motor Vehicle NSN: 4910-01- 554-7296. A response was received the same day, in which HDT responded that at this time, they were not interested in selling the TDP for this item. HDT has demonstrated the unique and proven manufacturing capabilities to establish and maintain the processing control required to repetitively produce this item.

The

FMTV requalification would also be dependent on the availability of the test tracks, and test personnel in order to conduct and support the testing

Unacceptable Delay

Reverse Engineering (RE): To reverse engineer, validate the design, procure prototypes for testing, and release a competitive data package would entail a significant amount of time, facility resources, and labor-hours. Based on past development experience from the Medium Trucks and Trailers/Tankers Sustainment Team at CCDC-GVSC, the estimated delay is approximately 48 months. This is due to the many steps required for reverse engineering, in conjunction with delays we are currently facing during the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.

COVID-19 has forced the shutdown of testing facilities causing a current 6 month delay in testing for , including

The testing site is shared by multiple vehicle weapon systems that could be pulled ahead of tow bar testing.

is currently scheduled to resume late November, barring any second wave of shutdown due to a spike in COVID cases. To complete the and then the towbar testing could take 18 months. See below for the full timeline breakdown for the estimated delay attributed to building a competitive TDP through the reverse engineering effort, and competitive source selection.

Unacceptable Delay Breakdown:

Other requests for this document shall be referred to: SFAE-CSS/Security, 6501 E. 11 Mile Road, MS 332, Warren, Ml 48397-5000, Event Estimated Delay (Months)

COVID 19 Delay 6

Testing 18

Development of TDP 12

Production Verification Testing/First Article Testing

(PVT/FAT)

PVT/FAT Resolving Issues 6

TOTAL 48 Months

Other requests for this document shall be referred to: SFAE-CSS/Security, 6501 E. 11 Mile Road, MS 332, Warren, Ml 48397-5000, Current COVID delay: The delay of 6 months is due to a COVID delay which is caused by personnel shortages, and resource/facility shortages.

Testing: The delay of 18 months is due to the testing timeline concerns outlined above, with the tow bar being a low priority at the testing facilities, and potential future COVID delays.

Developing, and releasing TDP: The delay of 12 months is dependent on the outcome of testing. With no failures or drawing updates 12 months is a reasonable time for writing the ECP, getting approvals, and releasing the new TDP for procurement. This includes changes or updates that need to be made, and tested prior to ECP publication.

PVT/FAT: The delay of 6 months is based on the vendor’s ability to build and test parts for verification that it meets the drawing requirements. Each vendor's capabilities are limited in different ways based on the resources they have available to them in-house, and what needs to be outsourced.

Resolving issues on PVT/FAT: The delay of 6 months for resolving issues on PVT/FAT is based on possible failures, in which case, the FAT will need to be redone after corrections are made. This needs to be considered as it is not common for vendor making new parts to pass PVT/FAT on the first attempt.

As shown above, the unacceptable delay is estimated to take 48 months.

The back orders that will be incurred during the time it would take to develop, and receive competitive parts as detailed above.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition:

a. Effective competition: Due to the reasons cited in section 5 above, the Government is not pursuing competition for this item. All notices required by FAR 5.201 will be posted, and the Government will consider any responses.

b. Subcontracting competition: Since the contractor HDT is a large business, the solicitation and resulting contract will include FAR clauses 52.219-8, "Utilization

Other requests for this document shall be referred to: SFAE-CSS/Security, 6501 E. 11 Mile Road, MS 332, Warren, Ml 48397-5000, of Small Business Concerns;" 52.244-5, "Competition in Subcontracting;" 52.219- 16, "Liquidated Damages--Subcontracting Plan;" and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 252.219-7003, "Small Business Subcontracting Plan (DoD Contracts);" to maximize small business opportunities and utilization.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: As stated in section 5, the Government does not own the complete build to print TDP to support a competitive procurement. There are no plans to purchase a competitive TDP to increase competition for future procurements due to the reasons cited in section 5. The time would not be recouped through competition, due to the complexity of the design and the time it would take to produce the towbar to the required quantities needed by the Government. The Army Multi- Mission Protected Vehicle Systems (MMPVS) program office is currently conducting an analysis to determine if the towbar can meet new requirements of the different variants of the upcoming vehicles. If the analysis yields positive results, MMPVS intends on building a complete reverse engineering TDP package for this towbar. However, due to delays from COVID-19 and timelines being pushed back MMPVS has been unable to test the towbar entirely to make this determination. Until testing is complete and is confirmed that the towbar will meet the future requirements of other variants, the reverse engineering effort is on hold and there are no other plans to increase competition.

8. Market Research: The Contract Specialist posted a Sources Sought on the Beta.

Sam.gov website on 02 April 2020. The notice was open for 14 days. No responses were received.

In addition to the Sources Sought Notice, the project engineer conducted a thorough internet search on 06 April 2020, consisting of online sources; vendor catalogs and available product literature published by similar manufacturers, distributors and dealers.

This market research was performed to determine if commercial items or non-developmental items are available to meet the Government's needs, or could be modified to meet the Government's needs. The internet sites included the following;

Search: Towbar and military towbar

1) https://www.oshkoshequipment.com/products/detail/229/723/Heavy-Duty-Tow-Bar Not designed for FMTV

Other requests for this document shall be referred to: SFAE-CSS/Security, 6501 E. 11 Mile Road, MS 332, Warren, Ml 48397-5000,

2) http://www.hdtglobal.com/product/fmtv-tow-bar/ current manufacturer

3) https://www.ibistek.com/product/detail/tow_bars no FMTV option

4) http://www.hitchcity.com/files/Towing/BlueOx/BlueOx-Towbar-Commercial.pdf

It was determined that there are no other existing sources available that can satisfy the Government’s requirement, without reverse engineering the existing system.

9. Interested Sources: To date no additional sources have expressed interest in this item.

10. Other Facts: Procurement History:

1. Contract Number: SPRDL1-19-C-0053 Award Date: 19 NOV 2018 Contractor: HDT Expeditionary Systems, Inc.

Contract Value: $2,878,508.88 Competitive Status: FAR 6.302-1 Only one responsible source The previous J&A Section 7 Actions to Increase Competition: The time would not be recouped through competition, due to the complexity of the design and the time it would take to produce the Towbar, Motor Vehicle, Wheeled to the quantities that are needed would cause unacceptable delays in filling the Government’s requirements.

Contract Number: W56HZV-14-C-0257 Award Date: 11 AUG 2014 Contractor: HDT Expeditionary Systems, Inc.

Contract Value: $1,345,790.60 Competitive Status: FAR 6.302-1(a)(2), "Only One Responsible Source and no other supplies or services will satisfy requirements."

11. Technical Certification: I certify that the supporting data under my cognizance which are included in the justification are accurate and complete to the best of my