N00024_22216.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

NAVAL SEA SYSTEMS COMMAND

1333 ISAAC HULL AVE SE

WASHINGTON NAVY YARD DC 20376-0001 IN REPLY REFER TO

J&A No. 22,216

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity

The Naval Sea Systems Command, Shipbuilding Contracts Division (SEA 022).

2. Description of the Action Being Approved

Award of a contract on a sole source basis to Bollinger Shipyards Lockport, L.L.C. (Bollinger) for the procurement of the Technical Data Package (TDP) and establish a licensing agreement for the associated rights in the commercial/non-developmental Israeli Logistics Support Vessel (ILSV) design in support of future Medium Landing Ship (LSM) Block 1 procurements.

3. Description of Supplies/Services

This proposed contract action will procure the TDP and establish a licensing agreement for the associated right to utilize the ILSV design to fulfil the Navy’s requirement for multiple non-developmental landing ships. The licensing agreement will allow use of the ILSV TDP in procuring the ship through additional shipyards if needed to expedite delivery of these assets to the fleet. This acquisition focuses solely on acquiring the existing Bollinger ILSV design data and associated rights, not on developing a new ship design. Accordingly, the TDP encompasses the complete "as-built" configuration data, effectively establishing the design baseline for the Navy’s requirement to procure multiple non-developmental landing ships on an accelerated timeline. The TDP will serve as the foundation for future construction, operation, and maintenance of the landing ships acquired in support of LSM Block 1. Furthermore, the Navy will use the licensing agreement procured under this proposed contract action to construct landing ships at multiple shipyards under future competitive awards.

This effort will be funded with Fiscal Year 2025 Shipbuilding and Conversion, Navy (SCN) appropriations. The Navy’s minimum needs have been verified by the certifying technical and requirements personnel.

FY 2025 Appropriations ($M)

SCN

Total Costs

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition

10 U.S.C. § 3204(a)(1), only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

J&A No. 22,216

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority

10 U.S.C. § 3204(a)(1), as implemented through FAR 6.302-1, authorizes a defense agency to use other than full and open competition procedures when the supplies or services required by the agency are only available from one or a limited number of responsible sources, and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy the agency’s requirements. The proposed acquisition strategy for the LSM Block 1 requires a commercial/non-developmental item (CNDI) design to significantly reduce the risk of cost and schedule growth due to design immaturity typically associated with new shipbuilding programs. The inherent maturity of such designs minimizes the need for the extensive new design procedures normally required for new ship programs because the design has already been validated through prior commercial or military use.

Additionally, because CNDI designs are proven, existing designs, vessel production will not be delayed by the detailed design work necessary to develop a design from conceptual to basic and functional or multiple modifications/customizations to the design during construction.

Therefore, procuring the TDP and licensing agreement for a CNDI design will allow the Navy to provide capability to the fleet as quickly as possible to support the Marine Corp’s operational requirements while laying the groundwork to enable future procurement of additional vessels on an accelerated timeline.

Furthermore, leveraging an existing CNDI design offers cost savings compared to developing a new design because there is no additional engineering development necessary to deliver capability and there are mature production methods which overall reduce risk of change. Given the affordability issues the Navy experienced during its previous efforts to competitively procure a new design for an LSM vessel, the Navy has determined that utilizing CNDI designs for LSM Block 1 will enable the Navy to fulfill its requirement for landing ships within the budget for the LSM program.

Through extensive market research, including an Industry-wide Request for Information (RFI) posted to SAM.gov, the Government identified two viable CNDI vessel designs that would meet the Top-Level Requirements (TLRs) for LSM Block 1: (1) the Bollinger ILSV, and (2) the Landing Ship Transport (LST-100), designed by Damen Naval (Damen) (Ref J&A No. 22,217).

Only Bollinger can provide the ILSV TDP because it holds the exclusive license for the ILSV design. Similarly, only Damen can provide the LST-100 TDP because it is the sole owner of the design. Accordingly, the Navy has determined that its requirements for LSM Block 1 can only be satisfied by Bollinger and Damen because CNDI designs are unique supplies available only from these two suppliers with the unique ability to provide the Navy with the TDP and licensing agreements necessary to field multiple landing ships as quickly as possible.

The Navy intends to procure the TDP and licensing agreements for both the ILSV and LST-100 (Ref J&A No. 22,217) to support this requirement by leveraging the advantages of both designs to rapidly build the fleet and reach full capability. As relevant to this J&A, although both the ILSV and LST-100 designs have already been built for military use, only the ILSV has been built by a U.S. shipyard in the United States, which is a requirement for ship construction funded with SCN. That Bollinger has already successfully built the ILSV in the United States reduces the performance risk associated with constructing a vessel from a build to print design, particularly by different shipyards, because the design already conforms to American conventions and measurements. Furthermore, the ILSV design’s existing readiness for use by American shipyards provides both time-saving and cost-saving advantages to support a quick build approach for initial vessels to meet the Marine Corps’ urgent need for landing ships. For these reasons, the Navy has decided to award a contract on a sole source basis to Bollinger for the ILSV TDP and licensing agreement in accordance with the authority provided by 10 U.S.C.

§ 3204(a)(1).

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

The Navy conducted extensive market research to identify potential sources for a non-developmental landing ship design and assess U.S. shipyard capacity to produce vessels from a build to print design. In support of its market research, the Navy released an industry-wide RFI on 07 January 2025, seeking information on commercially available designs and shipyard capabilities. The Navy received fourteen responses, thirteen of which included production recommendations using nine distinct landing ship designs. However, only two of those identified designs—the Bollinger ILSV and Damen LST-100—are mature designs that meet the LSM Block 1 TLRs and have already been successfully constructed.

In accordance with FAR 5.203(a), the Navy posted a pre-solicitation synopsis for the proposed effort addressed by this J&A on the System for Award Management (SAM) web portal on 08 April 2025. To date, the Navy has received two (2) responses from expressing interest in the requirement. The Navy has considered both responses and determined that neither designs meet the Navy’s requirement for CNDI designs for a non-development/commercial landing ship vessel. Not only has neither design been previously built, neither is mature enough to meet the criteria for a basic and functional design. Therefore, the proposed alternative designs cannot fulfill this requirement.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost

The Contracting Officer has determined the anticipated cost to the Government of the supplies/services covered by this J&A will be fair and reasonable.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition

For the reasons set forth in Section 5, the Navy has no plans at this time to compete future contracts for the supplies/services covered by this J&A. If another potential source emerges, the Navy will assess whether a competition for future requirements is feasible. However, as discussed in Section 3, the Navy intends to utilize the supplies/services acquired under the proposed contract action to facilitate construction of landing ships at multiple shipyards under future competitive awards.

CERTIFICATIONS AND APPROVAL

TECHNICAL/REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION

I certify that the facts and representations under my cognizance which are included in this Justification and its supporting acquisition planning documents, except as noted herein, are complete and accurate to the best of my knowledge and belief.

DESIGNEE OF THE HEAD OF CONTRACTING ACTIVITY APPROVAL

Upon the basis of the above justification, I hereby approve, as designee of the Head of Contracting Activity, the solicitation of the proposed procurement(s) described herein using other than full and open competition, pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1).

SCOTT S. ANDERSON Date

Digitally signed by

ANDERSON.SCOTT.S.1229628026 5/9/25