Link-16 Boss Sole Sorce JA_Redacted.pdf

This is a Department of the Air Force Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition (CUI) document supporting a sole-source contract award.

The Air Combat Command, 9th Contract Squadron, is awarding contract FA468626PC016 on a sole-source basis to Curtiss-Wright DS, Inc. for procurement of TCG BOSS equipment and Link-16 related products. The contract is valued at less than $10 million and is classified as a Firm-Fixed Price contract under Operations and Maintenance Funds 3400. Curtiss-Wright will provide a software solution operating on a ruggedized, transportable computing platform for field operations, delivering Link-16 terminal initialization and management, network monitoring, Link-16 J-series message processing, tactical track visualization, participant location identification display, message filtering and analysis, tactical data recording and playback, network troubleshooting, operator training support, mission planning support, and integration with the planned SPIDR tactical display environment. The contractor must deliver software licenses, protocol modules, technical documentation, commercial software maintenance, and future software updates enabling terminal control, simulation, and tactical visualization in support of JADC2 and Joint/Coalition interoperability.

The justification establishes sole-source authority under RFO 12.201-1 (Simplified Procedures, 41 U.S.C. 1901), citing that Curtiss-Wright is the only commercially available source meeting all government minimum requirements for JITC-certified Link-16 interoperability, native software functionality for controlling existing KOR-24A transceivers, and integrated timing synchronization capabilities. Market research via SAM.gov identified no alternative solutions meeting these technical requirements without substantial cost duplication, unacceptable technical risk, and schedule delays. A 15-day Notice of Intent to Sole Source was posted, yielding one alternative proposal that was rejected following technical review as failing to demonstrate required JITC pre-certification, native software functionality, and integrated timing capabilities. The government commits to continued market research for future acquisitions to identify emerging competitive solutions.