JA FAR 16.505 ViaSat (RFI draft) 2April2024.docx

Justification Review Document for an Exception to Fair Opportunity – FAR 16.505(b)(2)

Program/Equipment: Viasat LinkWay Software Maintenance Renewal for the US Army’s Communications Electronics Command (CECOM) Software Engineering Center (SEC), Command Control Communications Tactical (C3T), Tactical Network Transport At the Halt (TNT-ATH).

Authority: 10 United States Code § 3406 (c)(5) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(b)(2)(i)(G), exceptions permitting the use of other than full and open competition, and FAR Part 6.302-1 – “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.”

CUI//SP-SSEL

Control Number:

Viasat Linkway Maintenance

CUI//SP-SSEL

(Source Selection Information - See FAR 2.101 and 3.104-4)

Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity Under FAR 16.505(b)(2)

1. Contracting Activity:

2. Description of Action: The Communications Electronics Command (CECOM) Software Engineering Center (SEC), in support of the Tactical Network Transport At the Halt (TNT-ATH), requests for a new Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) contract for the procurement of brand name Viasat, LinkWay Network Control Center (NCC) Software Maintenance and Remote Technical Support. The applicable North American Industrial Classification systems (NAICS) Code for this acquisition is 513210 – Software Publishers. This requirement will consist of one (1) year base year with three (3) option years. The subscription period for this effort is 1 July 2024 through 30 June 2028.

3. Description of Supplies/Services: The Government’s requirement is for Viasat Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) software maintenance and technical support that has the following minimum capabilities:

• Software that provides control and monitoring capabilities of the satellite hardware including the Satellite Communications (SATCOM) Transportable Terminal, Unit Hub Satellite Terminal (UHST) and the satellite dish itself.

• Software that provides Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) network timing, synchronization, terminal acquisition, network configuration, and bandwidth management.

• Remote technical support 24 hours x 7 day a week x 365 days via telephone or email from a Network Operations Center (NOC).

• Support both local and geographic redundancy of the network controller.

• Software that provides Bandwidth-On-Demand — Real-time, dynamically-assigned bandwidth allocation based on actual traffic requirements.

• Software that supports integrated satellite router for Internet Protocol (IP) networking with advanced features such as IP Quality of Service (QoS), IP header compression, IP multicast, and Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) acceleration.

• Software that has integrated frame relay switch for connecting peripheral frame relay access devices supporting voice, packet data, serial data, or legacy protocols.

• Software that provides mobile networking, at sea or on land, with automatic system acquisition and timing.

• Software that allows secure network control from any location through a network management system with graphical (GUI) web-based clients.

• The software must have been tested and certified that complies with current DOD IT cybersecurity policy.

The subscription period and total estimated cost of this proposed action is XXXX. The total projected quantities for the base subscription period and the three (3) option subscription periods are described in the table below.

Base Year

Option Year 1

Option Year 2

Option Year 3

4. Authority Cited: 10 United States Code § 3406 (c)(5) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 16.505(b)(2)(i)(G), exceptions permitting the use of other than full and open competition, and FAR Part 6.302-1 – “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.”

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

a. Viasat LinkWay NCC software maintenance is a mission-critical component of the TNT-ATH communications system. Only Viasat has the capability to maintain their COTS licenses and software support. Without the Viasat Linkway NCC, there will be no satellite communications network access for the TNT-ATH program to operate. The TNT-ATH provides backbone high-throughput worldwide communications directly to the warfighter, and network connectivity to underlying systems. LinkWay Viasat software provides control and monitoring capabilities of the satellite hardware including Small Tactical Terminal (STT), Unit Hub Satellite Terminal (UHST), and the satellite dish. The Linkway software provides for network-centric connectivity integrating voice, video, and data applications for TNT-ATH mission requirements. LinkWay NCC maintenance is must be purchased and is crucial in order to support the sustainment of TNT-ATH for Army deployed Warfighting personnel.

If Viasat software maintenance and technical support is not procured, critical software and security updates will not be available for the communications services, which the Tactical Warfighters depend on to accomplish their missions, and protect the soldiers in the field. The loss of the updates will cause the TNT-ATH program to lose their Authority-To-Operate (ATO).

b. Alternatives. There have been no alternative products observed that can meet the requirement with equivalent functionality as Viasat’s LinkWay NCC software and support, currently in use within the fielded systems. An alternative software would need to be tailored to the TNT-ATH requirements, and integrated with existing subcomponents. Viasat LinkWay is customized specifically to the mission-critical satellite hardware of the TNT-ATH system. If an alternative software is considered, it would require reengineering multiple routing protocols, impacting communication between computers within the infrastructure TNT-ATH provides and supports. The detailed cost to reengineer the baseline systems would cost approximately XXXX dollars and take XX months to accomplish. The breakdown of the estimated costs to field a new product is shown in the table below. The cost and time to reengineer and field new baselines to replace Viasat product with other potential products would be cost prohibitive and negatively impact mission requirements. Viasat LinkWay software is a vital component for the control of satellite hardware; therefore, it is essential for the continue renewal of Viasat’s LinkWay software maintenance for TNT-ATH.

X

The table above is the total estimated cost to change software and reengineer the program baseline of an integrated software system. This parametric estimating tool is based on multiple factors related to substituting different COTS software products for an existing COTS software product that has already been integrated and fielded into the TNT-ATH program.

The reengineering factors include, but are not limited to:

- How the software is used within the program baseline

- How the software is distributed throughout the fielded program

- Where the software is in the configuration of the integrated program systems

- The frequency the replacement upgrade needs to uploaded

- The locations where the upgrades need to be installed

- The number of times the software must be loaded in existing fielded equipment and or locations

- The level of effort required to validate the software is meets or exceeds all minimum program requirements, and

- The configuration management requirements and the security features required to maintain the ATO in accordance with US Army Cyber Security standards and policy.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: The proposed contract action is an order placed under FAR subpart 16.5. Therefore, in accordance with FAR 5.202 (a)(6), notice under FAR 5.201 is not required.

a. Effective Competition: Available to companies who can provide and meet the Government’s requirement.

b. Subcontracting Competition: Not Applicable.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: SEC Software License Acquisition Branch performs market research on all new requirements each year to verify who owns the licenses and software support rights and who can supply the product(s) to the Army. Commercial software publishers are encouraged to increase the number of authorized resellers. The Government encourages the software publishers to pursue distribution and support services of their COTS software product lines through Small Business, Service-Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB), Woman Owned Small Business (WOSB), Economically Disadvantaged Women Owned Small Business (EDWOSB), Disadvantaged Small Business (DSB), certified 8(a), and Historically Underutilized Business Zone (HUBZone) small businesses.

Market research will be conducted annually to determine if changes occur in the marketplace that would enable greater competition.

8. Market Research: Market research was performed by the SEC License Acquisition Branch (SLAB) to find comparable and compatible software licenses. The intent was to increase competition to identifying alternative COTS products; as well as identify authorized resellers and increase small businesses participation. The market research was performed to identify vendors that could provide the Army with Viasat LinkWay Software Maintenance and Technical Support or comparable alternative products. The SLAB reviewed Federal Service Schedules, Government Wide Acquisition Contracts (GWAC), multi agencies, and contract vehicles.

9. Other Facts:

a. Procurement history.