JA Refractory Metal Wires Redacted.pdf

DEFENSE LOGISTICS AGENCY

HEADQUARTERS

8725 JOHN J. KINGMAN ROAD

FORT BELVOIR, VIRGINIA 22060-6221

Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition

SP8000-26-R-0007

Refractory Metal Wires

1) Identification of the agency and contracting activity:

Requiring Activity: Defense Logistics Agency, (DLA) Strategic Materials, 8725 John J Kingman Road, Ft Belvoir, VA 22060, Point of Contact: Sarah MacLean, Contracting Activity: DLA Contracting Services Office – Columbus Division # 3 (DCSO-C3), 3990 East Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43218, Points of Contact: Adam Steele, Contract Specialist; Iván J. Badillo, Contracting Officer.

2) Nature and/or description of the action being approved:

DLA intends to solicit and award a Firm-Fixed-Price (FFP) contract for refractory metal wires.

DCSO-C3 proposes to procure refractory metal wires by other than full and open competition. The nature of this contractual action will be a new sole-source, one-time buy contract with a five (5) year delivery period. This intended acquisition is for critical material to be placed in the National Defense Stockpile (NDS).

3) Description of the supplies or services required to meet the agency’s needs (including the estimated value):

DLA Strategic Materials (SM) intends to issue a sole-source, FFP contract to obtain refractory metal wires over a five-year period from Elmet Technologies LLC (Elmet) (CAGE: 7AWJ9). The Department of Defense (DoD) utilizes refractory metals extensively for

This acquisition for refractory metals has an estimated value of

4) Identification of statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition:

The statutory authority for this non-competitive action is 10 U.S.C. §3204(a)(3)(A) as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-3(a)(2)(i), which states that “[f]ull and open competition need not be provided for when it is necessary to award the contract to a particular source or sources in order to maintain a facility, producer, manufacturer, or other supplier available for furnishing supplies or services in case of a national emergency or to achieve industrial mobilization,” which per subsection (b)(1)(iv)(A) “may be appropriate when it is necessary to create or maintain the required domestic capability for production of critical supplies by limiting competition to items manufactured in [t]he United States or its outlying areas.” Additionally, Executive Order 14241, Executive Order 14154, and the Presidential Action, “Declaring a National Energy Emergency” reference the urgency to address the strategic materials crisis, and within these documents, the urgency to stockpile these materials utilizing the fullness of the industrial base is addressed.

5) Demonstration that the proposed contractor’s unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited:

Currently, the only available domestic source of the grades of refractory metal wires required by the United States Government is Elmet Technologies LLC (7AWJ9). Elmet has active production and can supply the required materials to the NDS. According to the market research that DLA has performed, all additional sources do not have the exact grades of materials DLA plans to procure and would be unreliable in an emergency due to geopolitical risks. Per FAR 6.302-3 (a)(2)(i), Elmet is permitted as a sole source in order to maintain a facility, producer, manufacturer, or other supplier available for furnishing supplies or services in case of a national emergency or to achieve industrial mobilization.

Moreover, as stated in FAR 6.302-3 (b)(1)(iv)(A), this procurement will allow Elmet to maintain required domestic capabilities in the U.S. for production of refractory metal wires because Elmet’s which creates supply risk and unreliability in future emergency situations.

6) Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as is practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by Subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under 5.202 applies:

As this proposed action will be executed as a Request for Proposals (RFP) under FAR Part 12 and Part 15 procedures utilizing the combined synopsis and solicitation procedure under FAR 12.603, it will be synopsized/solicited on SAM.gov for approximately two weeks which will afford potential offerors a reasonable opportunity to respond.

7) A determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable:

The Contracting Officer anticipates that the final price for the Refractory Metal Wires in this justification for other than full and open competition will be determined fair and reasonable based on either a comparison of proposed prices with the independent government cost estimate (IGCE) or other means outlined in FAR 15.404-1(b)(2). An IGCE was provided that sufficiently demonstrates the market research that was conducted, the basis of estimates, cost calculations, and the appropriate validations. In addition, the material being purchased provided by Elmet is the only material that meets the Government’s technical specifications, is considered “commercial” and the terms and conditions found at FAR 52.212-4 contain the same and/or similar language found in most commercial agreements used within the industry and defined as “commercial” in accordance with FAR 2.101. The Contracting Officer will only proceed with the planned action after evaluating and confirming that the resulting price is fair and reasonable in accordance with FAR 15.404. The Government may require other than certified cost / price data if deemed appropriate.

8) Description of market research conducted and results or a statement of the reason market research was not conducted:

Market research was conducted via a combination of efforts including discussions within the U.S.

Government, including Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD), Manufacturing Capability Expansion and Investment Prioritization (MCEIP), the DLA Small Business Innovation Research Office (SBIR), as well as discussions at defense conferences, and with Elmet.

A formal Request for Information (RFI) was posted by DCSO to SAM.gov from August 26, 2025, to September 25, 2025. Only Elmet Technologies responded. Within their RFI response Elmet successfully demonstrated that they would be capable of producing the grades and quantities of materials required by DLA Strategic Materials. Additionally, it was determined through discussions that Elmet is , which creates significant risk as this is currently the only domestic source of this critical material.

Outside of the RFI, discussions with OSD and MCEIP revealed that previous attempts at securing additional sources such as one funded through MCEIP, were unsuccessful, indicating significant difficulty in the production of these materials, and the importance of the utilization of this sole source award to maintain sources in the United States. Additional conversations with members of the United States Government have indicated that more sources of similar grades of wires, not comprehensive of the requirements of this solicitation, are available with production outside of the continental United States and would not be reliable in a conflict based on geopolitical considerations.

Based on the RFI and additional market research, Elmet is the only viable domestic supplier of refractory metal wires that meets the Government’s needs.

9) Other facts supporting the use of other than full and open competition:

None.

10) Listing of sources that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisitions:

11) Actions, if any, the agency will take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisition for the supplies or services required:

DLA Strategic Materials has a Broad Agency Announcement to provide interested companies an opportunity to seek funding to become qualified manufacturers for any strategic materials authorized under the Strategic and Critical Materials Stock Piling Act (50 U.S.C. § 98 et seq.). Interested refractory metal wires companies were encouraged to submit a proposal to request funding to qualify their material(s). No companies were able to submit proposals for replacing refractory metals alternatives, indicating no substitution is viable. However, we will continue to conduct market research in an effort to identify additional sources.

12) Certifications and approval

Requirements / Technical Certification

I hereby certify that the supporting data for which I am responsible, and which form a basis for this justification are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

DANIEL ROSEN, PH.D.

Material Engineer Strategic Materials

Contracting Certification

I hereby certify that the information contained in this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. The estimated total contract value of this acquisition is

IVAN J. BADILLO

Contracting Officer DLA Contracting Services Office – Columbus 3

I hereby certify and approve this justification.

MATTHEW R. BEEBE

Senior Procurement Executive DLA Acquisition