JA_SPRDL123R0118_Redacted.pdf

SPRDL1-23-R-0118 (JA00661)

Previous J&A: SPRDL1-18-R-0215 has been extensively field tested for these vehicles. The AFES automatically senses and extinguishes fires that could endanger the life of the crew and seriously damage the vehicle rendering the vehicle unable to proceed with its mission. Therefore, the FEA is a Mission Critical device. Oshkosh and Amerex are the only Government approved source that has designed, developed, and tested for the application of the FEA for MRAP, M1235A4, MRAP M1266A1 and MaxxPro Dash DXM. The Government did not fund efforts in developing or testing of the FEA. The Government does not have the pertinent technical data to enable competitive procurement. Oshkosh with Amerex as the approved source exclusively owns the technical data for the FEA and has the capability to perform failure analysis, develop inspection, and acceptance criteria for components, perform repairs or rebuilds and test the FEA.

Specification Test Description Test Method PSPEC-873 3.1.2.4.1.1.2 Manual Activation PSPEC-563 3.1.2.4.1.1.3 Detection and Suppress Fire PSPEC-737 3.1.2.4.1.1.5 False Alarm Susceptibility

Since the Government does not own the TDP for the FEA, reverse engineering is required to develop a complete TDP for full and open competition. In addition, the Government would have to test for threats and endurance miles to ensure the AFES can prevent crew casualties and ensure the extinguisher is compatible with fielded MRAPs and MaxxPro AFES.

Reverse engineering required to develop a fully detailed TDP for full and open competition are defined below:

• Obtain Existing Parts: Obtain existing parts of FEA from the Original Equipment Manufacturer to develop baseline test parameters for reverse engineering, test the assembly to ensure that it meets baseline parameters. This task will take approximately two months based on the Subject Matter Experience’s past experience with similar parts.

• Tear Down and Understand the Design: Required to tear down the production assembly to understand the design and complexity. The timeline of six months is determined based on previous similar assembly teardown.

• Prototype Development and Design Fabrication: Reverse engineer the assembly and build prototypes. The timeline of 14 months was determined based on the complexity and criticality of mission requirements. This assembly is a safety item and if a failure occurs, it can cause injury and/or casualty.

• Component Level Safety Testing: Component level testing is required to ensure the system works properly and safely before installation on the weapon system. Lab testing is expected to take six months after the prototype shipment arrival.

• Conduct System Level Testing: Weapon system level testing will need to be performed at a government testing facility, such as Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), to ensure the entire system works properly and safely. The System level testing time of 12 months considers the time to ship component assemblies to the appropriate military test facility, the availability of a weapon system to perform the testing, the installation of the assemblies on the vehicle system, and execution of testing. In addition, a test result report would be required.

• Write TDP, Technical Bulletins and Provision Part: Once the Government has all the data, the development of the TDP will take approximately eight months to develop and release, including provisioning (i.e., assigning the NSN) for the part.

As detailed above, reverse engineering will take a minimum of 48 months before the first tested item is ready for production. The annual demand for the FEA is 260.

Current stock on hand is zero. Due to the development and test cost and timing to reverse engineer the FEA, the Government could have a huge number of back orders before a new fully detailed TDP is released for full and open competition. If the Government does not have a readily available FEA, it will make the vehicle non mission capable. Soldiers will not have adequate fire protection, which is unacceptable. This unacceptable delay of 48 months would significantly impact system readiness, as this is a critical safety item. The fielded weapon system with AFES should be fully functional;

the lack of a fully functioning AFES could result in serious injury or death. The MRAPs and MaxxPro vehicle cannot operate without a fully functioning AFES system.

The Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC) Sustainment Engineering Team with the assistance of GVSC Survivability Team has determined a Rough Order of Magnitude (ROM) cost estimated based on similar reverse engineering projects completed in the past.

Development summary Cost (thousands) Timing (months) Obtain existing parts $ 10.0 2 Tear down and develop design $ 25.0 6 Prototype development $250.0 12 Design fabrication $ 50.0 2 Component level testing $200.0 6 Conduct system level testing (1) $500.0 12 Develop the TDP $150.0 4 Write technical bulletins $ 25.0 2 Provision part $ 25.0 2

Total Estimated Cost to Reverse Engineer: $ 1,235.0 48

The Government would not be able to recover, through subsequent competition, the duplication of costs involved in reverse engineering the item to create a competitive build to print TDP within a reasonable time frame. At the current average usage rate of 260 units each year, a current unit cost of , and assuming 25% savings achieved through competition, the in annual savings would take over years to offset the estimated $1,235,000 cost of reverse engineering the item and validating a new TDP.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition:

a. Effective competition: Due to the reasons cited in section 5 above, the Government is not pursuing competition for this item.

b. Subcontracting competition: Unless the contract is awarded to a small business, the solicitation and resulting contract will include FAR clauses 52.219-8, "Utilization of Small Business Concerns"; 52.244-5, "Competition in Subcontracting"; 52.219-16, "Liquidated Damages--Subcontracting Plan";" and Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement (DFARS) 252.219-7003, "Small Business Subcontracting Plan (DoD Contracts)," to maximize small business opportunities and utilization.

7. Actions to Increase Competition: There are currently no plans to increase competition for future procurements due to the reasons cited in section 5.

8. Market Research: A Sources Sought Notice was posted to SAM.gov on 20 April 2023 and was open for 15 days. No responses were received.

Market research was performed by GVSC Sustainment Engineer in April 2023 via internet research on the following websites for FEA manufacturers:

Amerex Corporation htpps://amerex-fire.com

Ansul; A Johnson Control Company https://www.ansul.com/en/us/pages/ProductDetail.aspx?productdetail=CHECKFIRE+21 0+Detection+and+Actuation+System

Koorsen Fire & Security https://www.koorsen.com/products-services/mobile-equipment-solutions/

Firetrace International https://www.firetrace.com/military-vehicle-fire-suppression

Kidde https://www.kidde.com/home-safety/en/us/

Findings:

When comparing the specification requirements of companies identified through market research with Amerex who developed/tested/released the FEA to Oshkosh for Government use, they have not tested or shown test data to the P-Spec (PSPEC-873, 563 and 737) requirements mentioned in section 5. The engineer was unable to identify a Fire Extinguisher Assembly (FEA) that was suitable for the MRAP and MaxxPro applications, due to constraints in dimensions, internal pressure and interface to the

Signature:

7/20/2023

X Adam Reinbolt Adam Reinbolt Contracting Officer Signed by: REINBOLT.ADAM.ROSS.1294337225