JA_ 22-0303 Sunair_REDACTED.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER AIRCRAFT DIVISION LAKEHURST

ROUTE 547

JOINT BASE MDL NEW JERSEY 08733

J&A Number: 22-0303

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity.

Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) Lakehurst, NJ

2. Description of the Action Being Approved.

This Justification and Approval (J&A) authorizes and approves the issuance of a four-year Fixed-Priced Indefinite Delivery Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract on a sole source basis to RIIMIC LLC doing business as Sunair Electronics (Sunair) for the procurement of commercial items including High Frequency (HF) RT-9000E radios, radio software, and associated cables and ancillary items. Delivery orders will be issued on a Firm Fixed-Price basis. It is anticipated that the Government will be procuring a minimum quantity of one RT-9000E radio, one radio software, and four associated cables and ancillary items. It is anticipated that the Government will be procuring a maximum quantity of 46 RT-9000E radios, 184 software, and 230 associated cables and ancillary items throughout the ordering periods of the IDIQ.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

The NAWCAD Webster Outlying Field Special Communications Mission Solutions (SCMS) Division has been tasked by the Air Combat Command (ACC) to modernize the Remote Radio Secure Voice System (RRSVS), a system within the Control and Reporting Center (CRC) family of systems. The CRC is a mobile, ground-based theater air control system surveillance and battle management command and control element that is a customizable, modular, transportable, and persistent weapons system employed at the tactical level to support air and surface operations. It provides direct command and control to all air assets in an assigned area of responsibility and when reporting back to the Joint Force Air Combat Commander. The CRC family of systems includes: the ANITYQ-23A(V)I Tactical Air Operations Module, ANITSC- 147, ANITRC-213/214 RRSVS, and theAN/TPS-75 Radar, which is the CRC's organic radar.

The ACC CRC capability roadmap provides for the modernization of this family of systems and will be programmed into phased updates through 2037.

The requested IDIQ contract will include the purchase of Sunair RT-9000E radios, radio software, and associated cables and ancillary items required to modernize the RRSVS and maintain the planned production schedule for the modernization of the CRC family of systems.

The Sunair RT-9000E radios, radio software, and associated cables and ancillary items are a direct replacement for the currently-fielded legacy Sunair HF radios. The ACC requires that the replacement Sunair RT-9000E radios, radio software, and associated cables and ancillary items be compatible with existing Air Force proprietary Rome Touch Radio Control Software (RTCS).

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition.

41 US. C. 1901, Simplified acquisition procedures (Certain Commercial Items).

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority.

The Sunair RT-9000E radio, radio software, and associated cabling and ancillary items are the only radio, radio software, and associated cabling compatible with existing Air Force proprietary

RTCS.

Sunair is the sole designer, developer, and manufacturer of the RT-9000E radio, radio software, and associated cabling and ancillary items and does not authorize resale of these products. The requested RT-9000E radio, radio software, and associated cabling and ancillary items are the newest version of the currently-fielded legacy radio and were procured under contract N0042121P0559. Additionally, the requested RT-9000E radio, radio software, and associated cabling and ancillary items were procured under contract N00421 l 9D0033 for qualification testing of the prototype RRSVS system. Qualification testing was completed on 10 December 2021 and resulted in the approved baseline system. The ACC completed Air Force environmental testing in January 2022, acceptance testing in March 2022, and Demonstration Testing (DT) in April 2022. Operational testing is currently in progress as of September 2022.

Selecting an alternative radio would require reengineering, redesign, and re-testing of the entire RRSVS system and would result in duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition. Current estimates for the duplicative costs total $IO.3M and include costs for developing new software code for the Air Force proprietary RTCS software ($1.2M); engineering and design ($1.8M); qualification testing, acceptance testing, environmental testing, and DT ($5M); and, updating technical documentation ($2.3M). ACC would also experience a 36-month delay in fielding the modernized RRSVS, which would include delays of 6 months for engineering and design, 12 months for qualification testing, and 18 months for environmental testing. Furthermore, the radios are controlled remotely from an alternate site using RTCS. Without the required Sunair radios, the ability to control the radios remotely and the communications between Air Force operators would be impossible. The radios are critical to battle management command and control, and any diminished communication capabilities could create a command and control disrupted or denied environment, endangering the lives of forces in the air and on the ground.

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

Market research was conducted to identify commercially-available solutions for HF radios.

Multiple solutions were identified and reviewed to determine each solution’s ability to meet the requirements for RRSVS. Of the manufacturers identified in the market research, only Sunair meets the requirements.

Further market research was conducted via General Services Administration (GSA) Advantage and the Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA’s) Public Logistics (PUB LOG) Federal Logistics Information System (FLIS) for the requested part numbers. Searches of DLA PUB LOG FLIS and GSA Advantage yielded no results. Sunair does not have any authorized distributors for the requested RT-9000E radios, radio software, and associated cables and ancillary items.

A Request for Information (RFI) for a “High Frequency Radio and Selector Master” was posted to the System for Award Management (SAM) website on 04 April 2022 with a response date of 11 April 2022. A RFI response was received from Rohde & Schwarz USA, Inc. Upon review of the RFI response, it was found that the solution will not meet the requirements for the following reasons: the solution will not function on 120 volts alternating current and would require a third-party direct current power supply; it would also require the redesign of cases to accommodate new power supplies, re-engineering of the current radio unit transit case coupler enclosure for the associated HF coupler, re-engineering of the coupler transport case, re-engineering of the HF transceiver case for integration, software updates on the remote control unit to include the associated engineering time/labor and test events with satisfactory results; and that test plans and training manuals be re-written to include this alternate radio. A response was provided to Rohde & Schwarz, Inc. via email on 21 September 2022 using the above reasoning as to why their RFI response did not meet the Government’s requirement. A pre-solicitation synopsis was posted on 21 July 2022 to the SAM website and closed on 04 August 2022. No responses were received.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost.

The Contracting Officer has determined the anticipated cost to the Government of the supplies/services covered by this J&A will be fair and reasonable.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition.

For the reasons stated in Paragraph 5, only Sunair can meet the requirements for compatibility with the Air Force proprietary RTRC software used to remotely control the RRSVS radios. The SCMS Division will continue to evaluate other technologies that would allow for future competition by conducting market research to determine if there are any future vendors that have the capability to meet this requirement.

Because this effort is a follow-on for supplies and services previously awarded on a non-competitive basis, in accordance with DFARS PGI 206.304(a)(S-70)(i), the prior was provided to the approval authority for review. Approval of this J&A signifies the approval authority has made the determination required by DFARS PGI 206.304(a)(S-70)(ii).

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION