Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity_redacted.pdf

This is a Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity or to Use Brand-Name Restriction, filed under FAR 16.507-6(b)(2) for a sole-source procurement.

The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) at Rome, New York is seeking to acquire two NVIDIA DGX H200 Servers (8X 141GB Full) with Business Standard Support on a firm-fixed-price basis through a sole-source task order to Sterling Computers via the NASA SEWP V Government-Wide Acquisition Contract (GWAC). The purchase request number is F4HBL16111A009/FA875126F0024, and the requirement supports the RAPID Program and NVIDIA DGX H200 Servers initiative for agentic artificial intelligence applications. The estimated cost is redacted in the document.

The justification establishes that only NVIDIA can provide these supplies at the required quality level because the specific units are currently on-site at AFRL/RF as demonstration systems that have been fully integrated, tested, and optimized for the Government's proprietary NVIDIA AI software ecosystem and management tools. The systems are mission-critical for the Real-time Agentic Processing for Intelligence-driven Decision-making (RAPID) program, supporting autonomous intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, battle damage assessment, and large language model initiatives. Procuring alternative hardware would result in substantial cost duplication, unrecoverable program delays of six to eight months, and additional engineering labor for redevelopment and retraining. The Government anticipates cost savings by purchasing the existing demonstration units at discounted pricing compared to new market pricing.