JA _Redacted.pdf

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

FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY

March 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Page 1 of 5

NOTE: If a Justification and Approval was approved for the preceding acquisition, a copy of the approved J&A for the predecessor action must be included in the staff package for approval of the instant J&A. This applies to all J&A staff packages that are submitted for review and approval at a level above the contracting officer. The predecessor J&A will be used as a reference document by the approving official.

Is this a new or amended J&A Document? New Amended ( Prior to Award Only! )

Is this a Bridge Action as defined in the AF Bridge Action Reduction Plan? Yes No

Funding level for this acquisition: < $700K > $700K and < $13.5M > $13.5M and < $93M > $93M

Contracting Activity: Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC) / HNAK, Aerial Networks Division

Purchase Request / Local ID Number: FA8726-20-R-0009

Program / Project (and PE, if applicable): Foreign Military Sales (FMS) - Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF)

Program Type (PEO or Other Contracting): Other Contracting

Authority: 6.302-1 – 10 USC 2304(c)(1), Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements

Estimated Contract Cost (including options): J&A Type: Class Individual

COORDINATION (AFFARS 5306.304(a) )

Date

AFLCMC/HNAI /

AFLCMC/HNAK /

66ABG/JA /

APPROVAL (AFFARS 5306.304(a) )

March 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Page 2 of 5

I. Contracting Activity.

Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Aerial Networks Division (HNAK) 5 Eglin Street, Building 1624, Hanscom AFB, MA 01731-2100.

II. Nature and/or description of the action being processed.

This is an individual Justification and Approval (J&A) for award of a new contract, (FA8726-20-R-0009) to Tactical Communications Group (TCG), Limited Liability Company (LLC). This contract type will consist of Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF), Cost Reimbursable (CR), and Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs).

III. Description of supplies/services required to meet agency needs.

This is a follow-on contract to continue the Product Maintenance and Support Plan in accordance with the Royal Moroccan Air Force (RMAF) Ground Support System (GSS) Statement of Work (SOW). The Offeror must be capable of delivering services on the hardware, some of which is custom built by TCG and software which was developed exclusively at private expense and is proprietary intellectual property of TCG. This action will also provide telephone support with Battlefield Operations Support System (BOSS) GSS expertise, troubleshoot potential issues, update BOSS GSS software, and provide training and operational support in Morocco or at locations designated by RMAF, whether CONUS or OCONUS, as well as provide periodic updates to the system software.

The purpose of this contract action is to purchase the following items:

CLIN 0001 -- Product Maintenance and Support Plan - Firm Fixed Price (FFP) CLIN 0002 -- Mapping - Firm Fixed Price (FFP) CLIN 0003 -- Contractor Support - Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) CLIN 0004 -- Travel and ODCs - Cost Reimbursable (CR) Option CLIN 0005 -- Spares and Supplemental Parts - Firm Fixed Price (FFP) (Option Year 1) Option CLIN 0006 -- Spares and Supplemental Parts - Firm Fixed Price (FFP) (Option Year 2) Option CLIN 0007 -- Spares and Supplemental Parts - Firm Fixed Price (FFP) (Option Year 3) Option CLIN 1001 -- Product Maintenance and Support Plan - Firm Fixed Price (FFP) (Option Year 1) Option CLIN 1002 -- Product Maintenance and Support Plan - Firm Fixed Price (FFP) (Option Year 2) Option CLIN 2001 -- Mapping- Firm Fixed Price (FFP) (Option Year 1) Option CLIN 2002 -- Mapping - Firm Fixed Price (FFP) (Option Year 2) Option CLIN 3001 -- Contractor Support - Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) (Option Year 1) Option CLIN 3002 -- Contractor Support - Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) (Option Year 2) Option CLIN 4001 -- Travel and ODCs - Cost Reimbursable (CR) (Option Year 1) Option CLIN 4002 -- Travel and ODCs - Cost Reimbursable (CR) (Option Year 2)

The Period of Performance (PoP) for Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs) 0001(Product Maintenance and Support Plan), 0002 (Mapping), 0003 (Contractor Support), and 0004 (Travel and ODCs) is from contract award to 31 December 2022.

The PoP for Option CLIN 0005 (Spares and Supplemental Parts) will be from date of option exercise through 31 Dec 2022.

The PoP for Option CLINs 1001 (Product Maintenance and Support Plan), Option CLIN 2001 (Mapping), CLIN 3001 (Contractor Support), Option CLIN 4001 (Travel and ODCs) and Option CLIN 0006 (Spares and Supplemental Parts) will be from 1 Jan 2023 through 31 Dec 2023.

The PoP for Option CLINs 1002 (Product Maintenance and Support Plan), Option CLIN 2002 (Mapping), Option CLIN 3002 (Contractor Support), Option CLIN 4002 (Travel and ODCs) and Option CLIN 0007 (Spares and Supplemental Parts) will be from 1 Jan 2024 through 31 Dec 2024.

The total estimated contract value is . This contract will be funded under the FMS Letter of Offer and Acceptance (LOA), MO-D-QAK. All systems maintained under this program are proprietary to TCG.

March 2018 FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY Page 3 of 5

The prior Maintenance and Support Contract FA8726-15-F-0018, was a GSA Delivery Order and was funded by LOA MO- D-SAY. The PoP of the contract ended 31 Dec 2019. The current GSS system is operational, however, if it becomes necessary to repair the GSS, there is no Maintenance and Support Plan in place to make necessary repairs.

IV. 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 .

As implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii), (b)(1)(i) and (b)(2) - Only one source is capable of responding without substantial duplication of cost to the Government, as well as unacceptable delays, due to the unique or specialized nature of the work.

V. Demonstration that the contractor's unique qualifications or nature of the acquisition requires the use of the authority cited above (applicability of authority).

The RMAF Ground Support Systems is available only from TCG, and TCG developed exclusively at private expense and maintains ownership and proprietary rights on its BOSS GSS equipment suites and software. The required services and products can only be obtained from one source; TCG. The Product Maintenance and Support Plan for TCG's proprietary BOSS software, available only from the original source is unique to TCG itself, who have engineered the product and maintain Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) trained on the highly specialized systems built to Morocco's specifications.

The RMAF acquired one (1) TCG BOSS enabled GSS under FMS case MO-D-SAY. TCG is the sole provider of the RMAF GSS, and is the sole manufacturer of its proprietary BOSS software, which is an advanced, standards-compliant tactical data link simulation and test software solution embedded with the Ground Tactical Data Link System (GTS) GSS. Only executable software was procured as part of the original and any follow-on contracts. Source code was never required by the Government in the GSS procurement, as it would have resulted in a substantial increase in cost. The TCG GSS software cannot be maintained without the source code, and TCG has placed a value of on the source code (approximately seven years ago). Significantly higher costs would be anticipated today because of ongoing TCG internal investment resulting in expanded capabilities.

Award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition and would result in unacceptable delays in fulfilling the Air Force requirements.

The previous product maintenance and support contract FA8726-15-F-0018, was awarded to TCG on 30 Jun 2015. TCG provided Product Support and Maintenance of the existing GSS system along with Mapping, and a LRU Refresh. This contract ended 31 December 2019 and the current system is operational, however, at risk and time is of the essences to renew the tasking under a follow on Maintenance and Support Agreement. LOA MO-D-QAK was issued to provide funding to support a follow on contract to provide continued product Support and Maintenance of the existing GSS system along with Mapping, Travel and ODCs, Contractor Support, and two Options for Mapping, Travel and ODCs, Contractor Support, and Spares and Supplemental Parts.

Accordingly, Tactical Communications Group, LLC is the only firm capable of providing the supplies and services described in Section III above without the U.S. Air Force experiencing substantial duplication of cost that could not be expected to be recovered through competition and unacceptable delays in fulfilling its requirements.

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

Previous efforts to solicit competition for servicing and maintaining these highly specialized proprietary systems have resulted in only the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) Vendor, TCG, being able to fully meet the FMS customer's requirements. With the acquisition history of these systems, specifically designed to Morocco's requirements, combined with the Program Manager's experience within the GSS industry through multiple acquisitions for like and similar systems, it is determined that TCG is the only available source.

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A Sources Sought was posted to Federal Business Opportunities (FBO) web page on 22 Oct 2019 with only one response received. A Market Research Report was completed on 10 Feb 2020 showing Original Equipment Manufacturer, TCG, being the only source who can provide the requirements. TCG was contacted to reaffirm that they have exclusive rights to services and support of the proprietary software.

, confirmed on 27 Jan 2020 that there are no third party relationships with the capability and rights to maintain the software. The Program Manager also utilized historical data from similar maintenance and support contracts such as Contract Number FA8726-14-C-0001 for the Saudi Royal Air Force (SRAF) for the Ground Support System (GSS), Spares, Support Equipment, Publications, Repair & Return, Services and Training in support of Link-16 with a PoP of 11 Aug 2014 to 31 Dec 2017. Also Contract Number FA8726-18-C-0002 for the Royal Air Force of Oman for the Ground Support System for Link-16, Transportable Ground Support System, Installation and Site Acceptance Test, Training, Data with a PoP of 19 Jun 2018 to 30 Jun 2022. Additionally for Contract Number FA8726-18-C-0003 for the Royal Jordanian Air Force in regards to the Ground Support System GSS for Link-16, A Fixed Rack Mount Ground Support System, Transportation, Installation and Site Acceptance Test, Training and Travel with a PoP of 20 June 2018 to 30 April 2023. This comparison was made to determine the level of effort extending beyond the proprietary software.

The Notice of Intent to Award a Sole Source Contract was posted on 23 January 2020, with a response date of 06 Feb 2020. No responses were received in regards to the NOCA Posting.

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

The Contracting Officer (CO) anticipates the cost for this acquisition to be fair and reasonable based upon evaluation of actual cost history and TCG's current GSA Schedule that prices parts and services through Calendar Year 2022. The CO will utilize part cost history, cost or pricing data and appropriate technical and audit inputs to negotiate a fair and reasonable price.

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

See Section VI above. The Sources Sought was posted to FBO on 22 October 2019 with responses due 14 November 2019. One (1) response was received.

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

This highly specialized product Maintenance and Support Plan for TCG's proprietary BOSS software is available only from the original source is unique to TCG itself. TCG engineered the product and maintain Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) trained on highly specialized systems build to Morocco's specifications. It is critical that the OEM (TCG) maintain and update the GSS systems for emerging technology such as crypto modernization. TCG is critical in maintaining RMAF's Link 16 operational mission effectiveness with the deployed GSS system.

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

Tactical Communications Group, LLC (OEM vendor qualified)

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.

AFLCMC / International Branch (HNAI) Program Office will continue to monitor various market information sources (e.g.

betaSAM.Gov, GSA Advantage, etc.,) to determine whether any other sources can meet a similar requirement prior to any subsequent acquisition.

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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.