Summary: Department of the Air Force Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition

This is a Justification and Approval (J&A) document for a sole-source Indefinite Delivery, Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract award to General Electric Aerospace for the Joint Electronic Data Acquisition Interface (JEDAI) Line Replaceable Unit (LRU), a fleet-wide Crash Survivable Flight Data Recorder (CSFDR) replacement for USAF F-16C/D Block 30/32/40/42/50/52 aircraft. The contracting activity is United States Air Force AFMC AFLCMC/WAMKA, located at 6072 Fir Ave. Bldg. 1233 HAFB, UT 84056. The total estimated value is redacted but is categorized in the $10M to $100M range. The contract type is Cost-Plus-Fixed-Fee (CPFF) funded through Consolidated Sustainment Activity Group (CSAG) Working Capital Funds (WCF) across Fiscal Years FY26-FY31, with Task 1 funded upfront and Tasks 2-3 to be funded later as optional CLINs. The contract structure includes three tasks: (1) CSFDR Redesign with Critical Design Review, System/Functional Testing, Environmental/Mil-Std Qualification, and Production Readiness Review; (2) Test Asset & Integration Units with SIL/FLT Testing Support and Data Analysis; and (3) Production Stand Up. A follow-on production contract will be issued by the 422 SCMG as part of an Improved Item Replacement Program (IIRP) approval plan.

The justification for sole-source award relies on three primary rationales: (1) lack of adequate government technical data rights and proprietary constraints—GE Aerospace refuses to sell data rights and will not provide technical data packages, specifications, or manufacturing methods; GE maintains exclusive control over proprietary Type 2/3/4/5 data formats required for memory management and aircraft structural safety; (2) stringent technical and form/fit/function requirements—the F-16 crash survivability standard requires 200G impact shock survivability; commercial recorders do not meet these requirements; attempting to qualify an alternate source would necessitate extensive re-qualification, cost duplication, and an 8-year fielding delay; and (3) substantial duplication of cost and unacceptable delays from reverse-engineering across 800+ fielded units spanning 16 possible aircraft configurations over 8 years. Market research included a Sources Sought (SSS) posted June 9, 2021 (closed July 9, 2021 with no responses), an updated SSS released April 24, 2025 (due May 9, 2025 with two interested parties), and a Request for Proposal sent June 26, 2025 to GE Aerospace. One commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) system was evaluated and rejected based on three critical failure points: inability to meet Size, Weight, and Power (SWaP) constraints; security and information assurance deficiencies; and non-compliance with acoustic beacon specifications. A second interested party submission demonstrated fundamental misalignment with aerospace hardware engineering requirements. Legal Review was completed June 17, 2026, and Competition & Commercial Advocate approval was obtained the same date.