JA for IAH MAF Requirement.pdf

J&A Number: 0224-02-002-00.1

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

JUSTIFICATION

1. Contracting Activity

Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA), Naval Surface Warfare Center, Carderock Division (NSWCCD), Contracting and Acquisitions Department.

2. Description of Action Being Approved

Award of a three-year hybrid Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) and Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) completion contract on a sole source basis to Collins Aerospace (Collins) for the procurement of VIRGINIA Class Submarine (VCS) Improved Advanced Hybrid (IAH) propulsor Most Aggressive Features (MAF), Shipping Installation Fixtures (SIFs), and associated engineering services.

3. Description of Supplies/Services

NSWCCD’s Advanced Propulsor Management Office (APMO), in support of VCS program office (PMS450) requires the procurement of MAFs, SIFs, and associated engineer support services which shall include specifications and procedure development. This effort will expand upon the manufacturing and engineering services performed by Collins under Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Hybrid Multi-Material Rotor (HMMR) Cooperative Agreement number

HR0011-14-C-00541.

The U.S. Navy has fielded an IAH propulsor on a VCS. The performance of the IAH warrants the construction of additional IAH propulsors for installation on future new VCS construction and/or to backfit existing VCS hulls.

A major component of the IAH propulsor is the MAF. The only existing detailed mechanical design for the production of this component, was developed by Collins under the DARPA HMMR Program. This MAF design was manufactured by Collins under this previous effort, subsequently delivered to the U.S. Navy, and successfully fielded on a VCS. Timely execution of this production contract to acquire up to nine (9) MAFs built to the existing, proven design, is required to ensure IAH propulsors can be delivered to the fleet on schedule. The fleet driven schedule requires delivery of the first MAF 28 months after contract award with subsequent MAFs being delivered on a six month follow-on basis for continuous production

Engineering services will be required on this contract to provide technical support during production and installation of MAFs, as well as in-service field support should any emergent issues arise. In addition to the above, the contractor will be required to perform technical support during the production of the MAFs which will include drawing development, design change implementation, material testing, structural testing, manufacturing improvements, inspection support, and shipping support.

J&A Number: 0224-20-002-00.1

This “C-type” contract will have a period of performance of 36-months from the date of award, with FFP options for up to three (3) MAFs and two (2) SIFS per year. This contract will also include various CPFF completion CLINs for document development and CPFF level of effort (LOE) CLINs for general engineering services. However, for the manufacturing MAFs options, MAFs are expected to be completed 28 months after the last option exercise date. The estimated total dollar value is $48,960,000 as shown in Table 1. The funding used for this contract may be SCN and/or OPN funds, depending on the destination hull for the MAF. SCN funding will support MAF delivery to new construction propulsors (two (2) per year) and Non-recurring Engineering (NRE), while OPN funds will be used for backfit IAH propulsors (one (1) per year).

Table 1: Estimated Total Dollar Value (in millions)

Year 1

(FY22)

Year 2

(FY 23)

Year 3

(FY 24)

Total

SCN $10.83 $11.00 $11.17 $33.00

OPN $5.24 $5.32 $5.40 $15.96

Total $16.07 $16.32 $16.57 $48.96

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition

10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority

FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii)(B) allows an agency to restrict competition when services are deemed to be available only from the original source in the case of a follow-on contract for the continued provision of highly specialized services, when it is likely that an award to any other source would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements. For this MAF procurement contract, the Government’s needs can only be satisfied within the required schedule by a single source, Collins. Fleet requirements for the IAH delivery are based on propulsor component delivery dates defined by Electric Boat (EB). For the first required delivery date of an IAH propulsor, the need date for the MAF at the assembling vendor is 1 February 2024, This date is 28 months from the anticipated award date of the first MAF CLIN of 1 October 2022. The fact that Collins possesses limited rights in data concerning elastomer and composite material required for the MAF procurement makes the supplies and services available from only one source at this time. No other sources are able to provide technically acceptable alternatives within the fleet-derived delivery requirements. Due to the material complexity and fleet support delivery requirements, 28 months for the initial unit, no other company would be able to develop technically acceptable materials within the required schedule. The government and EB have negotiated Government Furnished Material (GFM) delivery dates for all Block V hulls, which do not include schedule relief for IAH-related design changes. Any delays of propulsor components to the GFM will cause a day-to-day delay of the delivery of a VCS hull to the fleet, with an associated financial penalty for the government.

Collins is the only known source with the technical knowledge and manufacturing experience to manufacture MAFs without causing unacceptable delays to the U.S. Navy. The manufacturing of MAFs is needed to meet the classified design specifications of the propulsor for USN submarines.

Collins has designed, developed, and manufactured two MAFs under the DARPA HMMR

Cooperative Agreement, HR0011-14-C-0054, both MAFs have been successfully delivered to the Fleet. As part of the design developed under the DARPA agreement, Collins implemented previously developed proprietary elastomer and composite materials to meet the performance requirements of the MAF. These materials are essential to this effort; there are no substitute materials in existence at this time.

If another contractor were chosen for this contract, the contractor would be required to design, build, and test a full scale MAF using alternate materials before beginning construction on the first delivered unit. Previous MAF development timelines suggest this development and testing would require 24 months before construction of the first unit could begin. This development, coupled with the estimated 28 months construction time on the initial unit, would deliver the MAF 18 months after the in-yard need date (IYND) for the first IAH deliverable. The IYNDs are provided by the program office and are based on the need dates for submarine propulsor components at the shipyards. The MAF needs to be delivered in advance of the IYND; any delays to delivery past the provided IYNDs will cause delays to delivering VCS. The IYND for this effort is 21 Apr 2023.

The delay to the fleet caused by this additional development and testing is unacceptable for the VCS program.

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

On 8 January 2020, NSWCCD Code 02 released a Request for Information (RFI), N00167-20-R- 0007, on the Government Point of Entry (GPE) website. Responses to the RFI were due on 21 February 2020. Five companies expressed an interest in manufacturing the MAF. On 16 March 2020, NSWCCD Code 02 sent a follow-up letter to each company that informed them that this requirement had to be manufactured to the exact specifications that were developed under DARPA HMMR Cooperative Agreement number HR0011-14-C-00541. NSWCCD’s APMO and Contracting Department (Code 02) provided each respondent with the specifications from the previous effort so that they could make a determination on whether or not they could manufacture MAFs to the exact specifications. NSCWCCD’s Code 02 gave each respondent until 30 March 2020 to provide responses on their ability to manufacture to exact specifications of the previous effort. Considering the amount of time it took for the technical specifications to be delivered to each company by USPS, additional time was given to each company to respond. NSWCCD’s Code 02 ultimately gave each company until 24 April 2020 to respond to the exact specifications letter.

Wärtsilä Defense, Inc. (WDI) and Rolls-Royce (RR) responded that they would not be pursuing this contract as a prime vendor due to the limitations of the schedule and proprietary materials. Boeing and BAE systems both responded that they would be able to develop acceptable alternatives to the proprietary materials; however, they did not provide a specific schedule for this development. Given the previous MAF design development and approval timeline of 24 months prior to the beginning of construction, developing an acceptable alternative material is not possible given the IYND requirement of MAF delivery 28 months after award. Upon Government evaluation of the RFI responses, it was determined that proprietary data rights prevent other companies from competing and performing this effort. As a result, NSWCCD will post a synopsis on the GPE notifying industry of NSWCCD’s intent to award a sole-source hybrid FFP and CPFF contract to Collins.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Costs

In accordance with FAR 15.402, the Procuring Contracting Officer (PCO) shall ensure that all supplies and services provided under this contract are procured at a fair and reasonable price. The contractor will submit a formal price proposal with certified cost or pricing data and sufficient information to support the accuracy and reliability of the estimate. The contractor’s proposal will be reviewed by experienced technical analysts and contract specialists with the aid of necessary field pricing support. Assistance from the Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) and the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) may be utilized to analyze, evaluate, and negotiate. The PCO will use cost and price analysis, including historical cost estimating relationships from previous procurements, to determine that the final price to the Government is fair and reasonable.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Competition

The Government intends to purchase data rights to the proprietary materials, developed exclusively at Collins’s expense, required for the current MAF design as part of the initial MAF production contract. If Collins is unwilling to sell the rights to the material formulation, the Government will task Collins under this contract to develop a non-proprietary material that meets the technical requirements of the MAF drawings. The Government will seek Government Purpose Rights (GPR), per DFAR 252.227-7103-5(b), for all materials, specifications, and procedures developed under this contract. By possessing GPR to the technical data for the manufacturing of MAFs, the Government will be able to provide the specifications for any interested source to produce the MAFs. The Government intends on providing this information to interested parties in future production of these MAFs to allow for full and open competition.