JA Posting_Redacted_ FA853821D0001.pdf

Justification and Approval (J&A) for Other Than Full and Open Competition

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

March 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Page 4 of 7

Engineering Authority for the Flat Panel Up Front Controller.” A request was sent to Boeing Corporate in Saint Louis on 18 December 2019 for an official response. Boeing Corporate responded on 28 January 2020 they will not release the proprietary Boeing Procurement Specification to the Government on the FPUFC.

The Government does not own the rights and data required to repair this part from any source other than the product owner, L-3 Aviation Products. The company was contacted on 23 September 2019 to determine if the data rights are available for sale or distribution. The company's response on 23 September 2019 stated L-3 Aviation Products is not interested or willing to sell the data rights to the Technical Data Package (TDP).

The FPUFC is manufactured exclusively for military use specific to the F-15E model only, which makes them highly specialized equipment. The FPUFC offers the pilot a multifunction control used to control and display the status of communication, navigation, and identification systems, not available in commercial products. This follow-on contract is required to fill Readiness Spares Packages (RSP) which provides support for deployed forces actively executing real-world missions until a supply chain can be established. Failure to execute these missions inhibits the achievement of critical military objectives around the world. According to the most recent memorandum from HQ ACC/A5A the planned service life of the F-15E has been extended to FY2041. Maintaining a viable stock of spares is critical to meeting this objective and maintaining the current Ops Tempo.

The Government is pursuing a form, fit, and function (FFF) replacement for the FPUFC to address obsolescence issues with the current version. Consolidated Sustainment Activity Group (CSAG) Project #4164 has been initiated, funded, and approved via a Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) contract vehicle FA8075-17-F-1448-P00011 ( , awarded to Alion Science & Technology Corporation on 4/11/19. Alion then subcontracted L-3 Aviation Products (OEM) to complete the obsolescence refresh on the FPUFC. The estimated completion date is June 2021.

In order to reverse engineer, another contractor would be required to develop reverse engineering drawings, and tooling, as well as conduct field testing, and Operational Flight Program (OFP) development for the newly re-engineered FPUFC, which is expected to take at least 60 months. Cost Analysis was performed using the reverse engineering of the F-15 PACS-25 (a same era of technology, complexity, level of effort, and level of risk) at a cost of in 2014. The outcome of the Cost Analysis is that reverse engineering would net the Government a savings to investment ratio of 0.18, which means that the government would only recoup 18 cents in savings for every one dollar invested in reverse engineering. The Payback Period (2019-2041) for reverse engineering would far exceed the remaining 22 years of the life cycle. The Government maintains all of the cost and risk (both necessary & unnecessary) associated with reverse engineering and the Government is not guaranteed to receive a working/functional replacement. Therefore, reverse engineering to obtain repair data is not considered cost efficient.

Due to the Government's current requirements to meet the Warfighter's mission and operational requirements, the Government cannot wait until this CSAG Project is completed to pursue a repair contract for the FFF replacement FPUFC. This will lead to a lapse of repair capability/coverage on the FPUFC, increase Mission Incapable (MICAP) hours, and reduce Aircraft Availability (AA).

Accordingly, L-3 Aviation Products is the only firm capable of providing the requirements described in Section III without the USAF experiencing substantial duplication of cost that could not expected to be recovered through competition with unacceptable delays and in fulfilling its requirements.

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VI. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable.

A Sources Sought (SS)/Request for Information (RFI) synopsis was publicized on the Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) website on 13 June 2019 with a closing date of 15 July 2019 under Solicitation Number FA8538F15FPUFC. The RFI requested responses from interested vendors that possess the expertise, capabilities, and experience to meet the qualification requirements for this effort. There were no responses.

The requirement will be synopsized on the FedBizOps in accordance with FAR 5.201. It's anticipated that sources having an interest in subcontracting may be identified through synopsis. Any source who responds to the Government as a result of this synopsis will be identified to the prime contractor as a potential for subcontracting possibilities.

VII. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable.

The overall cost of this acquisition will be fair and reasonable to the Government. In accordance with FAR 15.403-4, the contractor will be required to provide certified cost or pricing data to be used to support the Government's evaluation of the proposed cost. The proposed skill mix of labor, labor hours, types and quantities of material and other direct costs, and direct and indirect rates will be negotiated by the Government based on recommendations from the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) and expert technical personnel supporting the program. The contract price will be negotiated in accordance with the procedures in FAR Part 15 ensuring the ultimate cost to the Government is fair and reasonable.

VIII. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted.

Market research was conducted from 15 July 2019 through 25 October 2019 in accordance with FAR Part 10.001 and 10.002. The market research techniques used are as follows: reviewing industry reports, trends and product developments; discussions with industry representatives; Internet searches;

and knowledge possessed by the F-15 Engineering staff.

As described in Section VI above, a SS/RFI was posted to FedBizOpps advising industry of the pending acquisition and soliciting inquiries from interested vendors. The SS/RFI was posted on 13 June 2019 under Solicitation Number FA8538F15FPUFC and closed on 15 July 2019. No one responded to the SS/RFI.

The team conducted a review of several industry-wide searches on the Internet, using the following search engines. The key terms used in the search were: “Communications & Navigation Control Panel” and “A05A0249-12.”

http://dsbs.sba.gov/dsbs/search/dsp_dsbs.cfm, http://thomasregister.com, http://www.eem.com, www.google.com, http://www.sam.gov, and http://www.naics.com.

NAICS 811219 and keywords “Communications & Navigation Control Panel” were searched in the Dynamic Small Business Search (SBA) with no results found. In addition, the team searched for

March 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Page 6 of 7 keyword “A05A0249-12,” with no results.

Vendor Research identified L-3 Aviation Products as the only capable source that has experience in the repair of the FPUFC. L-3 Aviation Products currently has the repair tooling capability, support equipment, and the data necessary for the repair of this item, and has previously met all production needs via the current Boeing/L-3 repair contract FA8538-16-D-0010. L-3 Aviation Products has demonstrated the capability to increase production to meet Government's increased ops-tempo requirements. Although, the Boeing Company is listed as an approved source, Boeing does possess the original requirements procurement specifications for the F-15E FPUFC, but doesn't have the total data package for repairing and testing FPUFC. Due to this The Boeing Company is not capable of the physical repair and testing of the FPUFC.

The FPUFC does not fit the definition of a commercial item as defined in FAR 2.101 This item is defined as military unique and is not customarily used by the general public or by non-Governmental entities. The Government requires parts that meet an exact form, fit, and function as determined by the specific mission.

The FPUFC is specialized equipment, designed specifically for the F-15E Aircraft and manufactured per Boeing procurement specification. This item was designed, qualified and manufactured exclusively for a military application. This part is not interchangeable with any parts found on any other military or commercial aircraft. Engineering has determined that this item, although similar to commercial items, are F-15E unique and are noncommercial. The Government does not own the rights and data required to repair this part from any source other than the OEM. No other contractual vehicles are in place to pursue repair of this item. Additionally, there are no new technologies, applicable to this item that provide affordable best value alternatives to the current design.

The market research concluded that L-3 Aviation Products is the only capable company of fulfilling the Governments requirement.

IX. Any other facts supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

None.

X. List of any sources that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition.

See Section VI above.

XI. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before making subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required.

The Government does not own a Level III data package to support full and open competition. At the current time, the only solution to competition would be a RE effort (described in Section IX).

However, the sources that express an interest from the synopsis will be evaluated to determine if they are or can be qualified to perform on this and/or future requirements. Past efforts to acquire data rights

March 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Page 7 of 7 from L-3 Aviation Products/Boeing have been unsuccessful due to the vendor's refusal to provide the Government the opportunity to purchase the rights to the TDP. The current requests for the data rights, from L-3 (9/23/19) and Boeing (12/4/19), have been unsuccessful. L-3 is unwilling to sell the data rights and Boeing is unwilling to provide the procurement specification.

A reverse engineering effort is estimated to take at least 60 months to complete. This would cause unacceptable delay in meeting our Air Force requirements, therefore determined not feasible. The Government maintains all of the cost and risk associated with reverse engineering as detailed in Section V above and is not considered cost efficient and would be a duplication of cost, due to the current FFF replacement CSAG Project #4164.

The remaining life cycle for this system is 2041.

The plan to break barriers to competition in the prior J&A was as follows:

During the past 2 years, attempts have been made to obtain the data rights with no success. There is not a record of previous attempts to contact L-3/Boeing for the data rights, as those personnel are no longer in the organization. The 3rd Party engineering services contract was awarded via the CSAG Project #4164 to Alion. Thus, leading to Alion subcontracting with the OEM L-3 Aviation Products to complete this project. L-3 is still unwilling to sell the data rights on the FPUFC.

The Government intends to continue pursuit of the data rights from L-3 Aviation Products and/or the most current revision of the Boeing Procurement Specification, which address the latest FPUFC configuration. If the Government is successful in obtaining unlimited data rights and/or the Boeing procurement specification, Full and Open Competition can be pursued. Based on fulfillment of the prior plan, the current J&A does not require higher level approval in accordance with DFARS PGI 2006.304(a) (S-70) (ii).

XII. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

As evidenced by my signature above, I have determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

XIII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

As evidenced by my (our) signature(s) above, I (we) certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is my (our) responsibility, is both accurate and complete.