McDREX Plus_JA13.501-25-EM01_Redacted.pdf

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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

NAVAL RESEARCH LABORATORY

4555 OVERLOOK AVE SW

WASHINGTON, DC 20375-5320

Purchase Request No.: 53-0017-25

J&A No.: J&A 13.501-25-EM01

Estimated Cost:

Justification for Other than Full and Open Competition Under Simplified Procedures For Certain

Commercial Items In Accordance With Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 13.5

On the basis of the following, I, as the Contracting Officer, hereby approve the use of a brand name contractual action pursuant to the authority of: ☒ 41 U.S.C. 1901 ☐ 41 U.S.C. 1903

1. Contracting Activity

The U.S. Department of Navy, Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Contracting Division proposes to enter into a sole source agreement under simplified procedures for certain commercial items included in FAR Subpart 13.5.

2. Description of the Action Being Approved

This action requests approval for the use of other than full and open competition, on a sole source basis, as implemented by FAR 13.501(a) for the procurement of FIRST RF Corporation’s

Multichannel Digital Receiver Exciter Plus (McDREX+).

3. Description of Supplies

The Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) Radar Division utilizes FIRST RF Corporation’s

McDREX hardware. The McDREX hardware was specifically designed, developed and produced by FIRST RF Corporation to meet the unique and specific research needs of the

NRL. Currently, NRL’s Radar Division requires the McDREX+, a software and firmware upgrade to the custom hardware, to support its expanding and future innovative research mission needs.

For this requirement, the Contractor will add the following:

• Arbitrary waveform playback and scheduling

• Streaming data from commanded dwells

• 100 GbE steam with data tagged to match dwells

• Synchronized tuner frequency and filter changes

• Synchronous control of First RF Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) antennas

The total estimated dollar value for this acquisition is . This requirement will be funded by

J&A No.: J&A 13.501-25-EM01

4. The statutory authority permitting Brand Name

The authority for permitting other than full and open competition is 41 U.S.C. 1901(e)(2), implemented by FAR 13.501(a).

☒ 41 U.S.C. 1901 ☐ 41 U.S.C. 1903

5. A statement demonstrating the unique qualifications of the proposed contractor, brand name, or the nature of the action requiring use of the authority.

FIRST RF Corporation designed, developed, and fabricated the existing McDREX. The additional functionality being added under the McDREX+ is only possible by FIRST RF

Corporation since they are the developers of this innovative hardware. First RF Corporation is familiar with the system’s specifications and their existing knowledge of the system will save considerable time in labor in support of the upgrade. The firmware and software upgrades will

. NRL

currently owns and operates FIRST RF Corporation Active Electronically Scanned Array antennas (AESAs). Only FIRST RF Corporation can provide the software and firmware modules to command, control, and synchronize NRL’s existing AESAs.

6. Description of Efforts Made to Solicit Offers from as Many Offerors as Practicable

To satisfy the requirement at PGI 206.302-1, a Sources Sought Notice was posted on SAM.gov from

February 19, 2025 through March 5, 2025. The SSN included the Government’s minimum technical requirements and yielded no responses.

In addition, NRL Code 5340 utilized multiple methods to survey the marketplace relating to this procurement. Code 5340 routinely monitors the commercial marketplace using the internet and product literature published by manufacturers, distributors, and dealers available online to stay informed on the most current Multichannel Digital Receiver equipment technology products offerings and how products could be used to further work at NRL. The Technical end user and the

Contract Specialist reviewed these available publications and determined that FIRST RF

Corporation is the only company that is able to provide software and firmware upgrades to the

NRL’s existing McDREX equipment.

A Notice of Intent will be posted to SAM.Gov to notify industry of the Government’s intent to sole source this effort to FIRST RF Corporation. The notice will be posted for seven (7) days to the GPE upon approval of this J&A.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost

The Contracting Officer will determine that the anticipated cost to the Government for the equipment covered by this J&A is fair and reasonable through adequate price competition (FAR

13.106-3(a)(1)), or through the methods described at FAR 13.106-3(a)(2).

J&A No.: J&A 13.501-25-EM01

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition

For the reasons set forth in paragraph 5, NRL has no plans at this time to procure or compete future contracts for the types of supplies covered by this document. Should the need for additional procurements of these specialized devices arise in the future in response to changing research requirement, market research will be conducted to determine market availability and whether other companies’ similar products meet or can be modified to meet the agency’s needs.

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