JA 25238 MCWS-X FollowOn-REDACTED.pdf

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

MARINE CORPS SYSTEMS COMMAND

2200 LESTER STREET

QUANTICO VIRGINIA 22134-5050

IN REPLY REFER TO:

Code: CT 2.2

J&A Number: 25,238

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL (J&A)

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity

Marine Corps Systems Command (MCSC)

Program Manager, Tactical Communications and Electromagnetic Warfare Systems (PM

TCE)

Product Manager, High-Capacity Communications (HCC)

2200 Lester Street

Quantico, VA 22134-5050

2. Description of the Action Being Approved.

PM TCE seeks use of other than full and open competition to award a sole source indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract to L3Harris Technologies, Inc. (L3Harris), 1350

Jefferson Road, Rochester, NY 14610-3106, to provide the United States Marine Corps

(USMC) with additional Marine Corps Wideband Satellite Communications-Expeditionary

(MCWS-X) systems and related kits, spares, services, enhancements, and training.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

The proposed sole source follow-on contract action is intended to require the MCWS-X

Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) L3Harris to:

A) Deliver complete test and production MCWS-X systems in accordance with the performance specifications (PSPEC) and product baseline configuration. Test systems will support developmental, operational, or environmental testing;

B) Complete development and deliver MCWS-X Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) Kits, as requested, to support the Government’s objective PSPEC and Capability Development

Document requirements;

C) Manufacture and deliver spare parts and consumables that meet established proven performance capabilities and include the proprietary interfaces;

D) Provide program and data management in accordance with Department of Defense (DoD)

Contract Security Classification Specification, National Institute of Standards and

Technology SP 800-171 while maintaining the current spectrum certification and technical/training manuals for the MCWS-X system;

E) Prepare engineering change proposals (ECP) for all MCWS-X system modifications and enhancements aligned to objective requirements for the MCWS-X terminal, and conduct independent environmental testing; and

F) Support fielding events, with established training materials, field support representatives, and supply technical manuals.

J&A No. 25,238

Based upon direction of the 18 March 2025 Command Element – Information Division Director, via his signed Approved Acquisition Objective (AAO) letter, MCSC requires delivery of additional MCWS-X terminals to meet the Marine Corps Chief Information Officer’s (CIO)

Table of Organization and Equipment Change Request (TOECR) for 313 additional terminals.

Pursuant to the same direction, the MCSC is also required to acquire the maintenance and sustainment necessary to support unit-level Mission Essential Tasks that directly affect the

Operating Forces and Supporting Establishments. Based on the 2024 USMC CIO Wideband

Satellite Communications (WSATCOM) AAO Analysis across all platforms, WSATCOM funding was reallocated to support the MCWS-X AAO increase occurring during FY26-FY28.

Additionally, Fleet Marine Forces have identified a need for increased transmission throughput when sending data. In response, the approved ECP requires that all fielded and new terminals be outfitted with the 25-Watt Block Upconverter (BUC) transceiver and that the 13-watt BUC transceiver included in the currently fielded terminals be disposed. Also, other MCSC programs are expected to order MCWS-X terminals/parts via the follow-on contract. For example, the

Sensitive Compartmented Information Communications (SCI COMMS) Family of Systems

(FoS) met their AAO of 111 terminals from the Marine Corps’ MCWS-X contract with

L3Harris, and has expressed interest in acquiring additional terminals, necessary spare parts, and

MEO capability kits.

The MCSC MCWS-X program is currently in Operations & Sustainment and requires data and documentation to support the maintenance and sustainment services of existing and future terminals, all over the next five years. Said services will include testing, training, and Field

Service Representatives to support enhancements and sustainment of the MCWS-X terminal.

MCWS-X is one variant of the MCWS FoS and provides Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) access. MCSC is testing a new capability that would allow Fleet Marine Forces to gain MEO constellation access by using a kit designed specifically for the MCWS-X terminal. MCSC intends to explore these, and additional, capability enhancements and ECPs for the MCWS-X terminal over the next five years, within the confines of the Capability Development Document.

This is a follow-on requirement to the services and supplies currently being acquired under contract M67854-21-D-2025, which was awarded as an IDIQ contract with a base period plus four one-year ordering periods on 20 October 2020.

Table 1: (In Millions)

Appropriation FY26 FY27 FY28 FY29 FY30 Total

PMC $7 $7 $31 $31 $0 $76

OMMC $2 $3 $3 $1 $11 $20

Total $9 $10 $34 $32 $11 $96

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

The statutory authority permitting use of other than full and open competition is 10 United

States Code (USC) § 3204(a)(1), only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, as implemented by the Federal Acquisition

Regulation (FAR), 6.302-1.

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority.

The Government’s rationale for a sole source award to L3Harris is the avoidance of unacceptable delay in fielding the terminals. The current MCWS-X contract (M67854-21-D-2025) was awarded to L3Harris on 20 October 2020, using full and open competition procedures, as a middle-tier acquisition for rapid fielding. The program reached Full Operational Capability and transitioned into Operations and Sustainment on 27 October 2022. Since then, MCSC has completed one AAO increase for an additional 18 L3Harris terminals. In March 2025 the USMC

CIO approved another AAO increase of 313 MCWS-X/Panther II baseline terminals to support unit level mission essential tasks that directly affect Operating Forces and Supporting

Establishments. This AAO increase is also aligned to the CIO’s reallocation of funding to FY26-

FY28 for this specific procurement. To meet the Deputy Commandant for Information’s concurrence on the Program Objective Memorandum 2026 (POM26) timeline to procure and field MCWS-X terminals to achieve appropriate tactical transport balancing, the Government must procure the additional AAO from L3Harris or risk an unacceptable delay in terminal fielding. Acquisition of these additional terminals from another vendor would entail its equipment going through Government Acceptance testing, securing authorization to field, and conducting training for operators in the field, all of which have already been completed and approved for the L3Harris MCWS-X terminal. Award to another manufacturer would preclude the USMC from meeting the approved fielding schedule for this AAO increase and delay the employment of these systems by Field Marines to meet critical operational requirements.

L3Harris is the only company that can maintain and sustain the currently fielded terminals because of their exclusive rights to the technical data for the system. Neither the Government nor other vendors have the intellectual property necessary to provide the maintenance and sustainment for the fielded Panther II MCWS-X systems. L3Harris has not sold or licensed the technical data and software, so they alone are able to maintain and sustain the Panther II system.

Because L3Harris alone possesses the technical data and software for the Panther II terminals, the required supplies and services listed in Section 3B – 3F are available only from L3Harris, and no other type of supplies and services will satisfy agency requirements. Additionally, award of a contract to anyone other than L3Harris to provide additional systems to meet the AAO and provide the maintenance and sustainment of those new systems would result in an unacceptable delay in the fielding timeline (see Table 2). As a result, the support identified above, in Section

3A, can only be provided by L3Harris; no other vendor has a system that meets the MCWS-X product baseline, that has been tested, certified, approved to operate, provisioned, and fielded to previously trained Fleet Marines and can be fielded immediately upon delivery to the USMC.

Table 2: Unacceptable Delay (Production by L3Harris vs Other Vendors) (In Months)

Estimated Delay To: L3Harris

MCWS-

X/Panther II

Terminal

Other Vendor w/

Terminal*

Other Vendor w/o Terminal*

Build A New Terminal 9 9 24

Complete SVR 0 12 12

Obtain JITC 0 9 9

Complete Operational Testing 0 2 2

Provision System 0 12 12

Complete NET 0 12 12

Estimated Time to Design/Build and Certify Terminal

9 21** 36**

Estimated Delay in fielding beyond the Government’s planned fielding date (4QFY26) if awarded May 2026

5 Months at least

(2QFY27)

17 Months at least

(2QFY28)

32 Months at least (3QFY29)

Acceptable Not Acceptable Not Acceptable

*A terminal that meets the Government’s PSPEC requirements

**Some of the tasks or processes listed in this table may be accomplished under an overlapping, partially simultaneous timeline, which is why the estimates are not the pure sum of the preceding lines.

As discussed further in the following paragraphs, the delays listed in Table 2 identify why the additional terminals necessary to meet the USMC Section 3A requirement are available only from L3Harris. Following the award of a production contract, the vendor must begin building a terminal that meets all required performance specifications. On average, it takes nine months from contract award to build and field terminals that have previously been certified and received an authority to operate (ATO), such as the Panther II system. If the follow-on contract were awarded to a new vendor, the proposed terminal would presumably require the same production time. If the successful vendor did not already have a proposed solution that meets the PSPEC requirements, the build time would be an estimated 24 months. Either new vendor would also have a 12-month System Verification Review (SVR) to prove their terminal meets the threshold requirements, as defined by the CIO. The operational functionality of the new proposed terminal must also be confirmed in order for the terminal to receive a Joint Interoperability Test

Certification (JITC); this is a process that lasts nine months, with an added two months of operational testing. Further, a new vendor’s terminal must be provisioned prior to fielding, to ensure all parts are identified. Identifying each part to build the stock-level three document, which is part of the provisioning effort that precedes fielding, takes up to 12 months. The

L3Harris MCWS-X/Panther II has already been through all of these processes.

Marines require training on new equipment prior to conducting operations with that equipment.

During fielding, the Government and vendor work together to conduct New Equipment Training

(NET). I Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), II MEF, and III MEF have all received NET on

190 L3Harris terminals and in some instances, Marines have received training multiple times over the past five years. The Government intends to conduct additional NET on L3Harris terminals over the next five years only if terminal hardware/software enhancements require some level of training, or if units request NET. If the follow-on contract is awarded to another vendor, the new vendor would have to conduct NET as part of fielding the 313 new terminals, adding 12 months to the fielding actions before Marines can begin operating the equipment.

The timeline comparison is the nine months it takes L3Harris, on average, to build and field the

MCWS-X terminal, to the time it would take a new vendor, with or without an existing solution, to follow the described path to fielding. If the Government awards the follow-on contract to a new vendor, it would take that vendor at least 12 additional months beyond L3Harris’ nine-month production/fielding timeline, even assuming the vendor already has a terminal solution that meets all the Government’s requirements, because the solution will still require testing and provisioning. If a new vendor does not already have a terminal solution that meets all of the

Government’s requirements, it would require at least 36 months to design, build, test, gain

Government acceptance, receive JITC, and be granted ATO prior to fielding.

The unacceptable delay the Government would encounter with a vendor other than L3Harris is the rationale for a sole source award for the production of additional terminals. By 4QFY26 the

Government plans to begin fielding additional terminals to the fleet, in response to the CIO AAO increase spread across FY26-FY28. If an award following a competitive source selection is made to another vendor, regardless of whether that vendor has an existing terminal solution that meets the USMC requirements, the terminal fieldings will shift up to 32 months, failing to provide terminals to Fleet Marine Forces on, or even near, schedule. Getting an operational solution to the Marines allows them to meet the mission essential tasks. Based on contract award, the

Government is willing to accept a five-month delay to get additional, ready to operate, Panther II terminals in the hands of trained Fleet Marine Forces. However, the Government cannot accept a fielding delay of 17 or 32 months for another vendor to get to fielding because that delay would put Marines at high risk with limited resources, while also putting the Government’s funding at high risk due to low execution.

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

This contract action is a follow-on to the established L3Harris contract under the MCSC

MCWS-X program. In April 2025, the Government released a Request for Information (RFI) in the System for Award Management (SAM.gov) to assess industry capability for meeting the requirements and scope of work for the MCWS-X program. The Government reviewed the eight vendor responses and determined that all other than L3Harris proposed new terminal solutions to meet the MCWS-X multiband, super high frequency, multi-waveform, man-packable and portable satellite communications terminal requirement. While other vendor offerings use waveforms that are compatible to those used by the MCWS-X terminal, the other vendors are unable to perform the sustainment requirements for the L3Harris Panther II terminals already in the USMC inventory because other vendors lack the necessary L3Harris intellectual property. Sustainment and maintenance of the current MCWS-X terminals, including the required training, was proposed by multiple vendors; however, none of the vendors indicated that they possess the technical data—or license rights for the same—to allow them to maintain and sustain the Panther II.

The sole response that met all of the MCWS-X requirements came from L3Harris. The

L3Harris Communication Systems Segment currently supplies the Panther II terminal for the

MCWS-X program. L3Harris alone holds the Technical Data Package for the MCWS-

X/Panther II, and exclusively controls all proprietary data, firmware, and software licenses required to sustain the terminal. Out of all the offerors that responded to the RFI, L3Harris is the only vendor positioned to meet the Government’s delivery timeline for fielding. A synopsis explaining that the Government intends to solicit and negotiate with only one source under the authority of FAR 6.302 will be posted to sam.gov.

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 reasons set forth in Paragraph 5, above, MCSC currently has no plans to compete future contracts for the types of supplies and services covered by this document. If another potential source emerges, MCSC will assess whether competition for future requirements is feasible.

CERTIFICATIONS AND APPROVAL

TECHNICAL/REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance which are included in this Justification and its supporting acquisition planning documents, except as noted herein are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Technical Cognizance:

Tara M. Miner Product Manager, HCC

Requirements Cognizance:

John J. Mithun Program Manager, TCE

LEGAL SUFFICIENCY REVIEW

I have determined this Justification is legally sufficient.

Lisa L. Baker Counsel Marine Corps Systems Command

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION

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

Leigh Anne Romo Contracting Officer, PM TCE victoria.downing Rectangle victoria.downing Rectangle victoria.downing Rectangle