N00164_15045_FBO.pdf

J&A Number: 15-045 Code 0222

N00164-15-R-WQ61

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity.

Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division, 0222 Contracting Division

2. Description of the Action Being Approved.

Award of a Firm Fixed Price Contract for Supplies and Services on a sole source basis for the procurement of Engineering Development Models (EDM), Wide-Bandwidth High Frequency (WBHF) radios and Engineering Support Services from Rockwell Collins Government Systems (Canada) Inc., 30 Edgewater Street, Suite 104, Ottawa, Ontario, K2L 1V8, Canada. (CAGE L0335)

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

The required Rockwell Collins Government Systems (Canada), Inc., RT-4800 Wide-Bandwidth High Frequency (WBHF) Radios and Engineering Support Services covered under this J&A are required for conducting Foreign Comparative Testing of a Tactical WBHF radio for use in verifying an ability to establish High Frequency (HF) radio linking beyond line of sight (BLOS) using the Automatic Link Establishment (ALE) protocol. Current HF radio channels’ bandwidths are limited to 12 kilohertz (Mil-Std-188-141C) which limits the data modems used for digital signals to 120 kilo-baud (Mil-Std-188-110C).

The goal of this testing is to evaluate capabilities for WBHF radio channels’ up to and including 24 kilohertz bandwidth, thereby increasing the data modems to exceed the Automatic Link Establishment 3rd Generation Protocol and increase the data handling capabilities of modems used with the ALE protocol to 240 kilo-baud.

This contract will be funded with appropriations from O&MN.

Estimated Dollar Value

Funding Type FY-15 TOTAL

O&MN $600,000.00 $600,000.00

Total $600,000.00 $600,000.00

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition.

10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1), Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy this requirement

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority.

The U.S. Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) has an approved project from the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) for the testing of a new Wide- Bandwidth High Frequency (WBHF) radio that exceeds the current state of the

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

CRANE DIVISION

NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER

300 HIGHWAY 361

CRANE INDIANA 47522-5001

art for Automatic Link Establishment (ALE 3rd generation), as defined in Mi- Std-188-141C, and data modems with data rates in excess of 120 Kilo-baud as defined in Mil-Std-188-110C.

The current state of the art military radios are:

a) The Rockwell Collins (US) AN/VRC-100 is the U.S. Army’s current ground system for HF radio transmission. This system is only capable of ALE 2nd generation, in accordance with Mil-Std-188-110B data modems. Mil- Std-188-110C (data rates up to 120 kilobits/second) is the current state of the art within the communications industry for HF radio data rates.

b) Rockwell Collins (USA) AN/ARC-220 is the standard aircraft HF system for Beyond Line of Sight Communications. It, too, is only capable of ALE in accordance with Mil-Std-188-110C data modems.

The Rockwell Collins Government Systems (Canada) Inc., EDM (RT-4800) has capabilities that exceed the ALE 3rd generation (Mil-Std-188-141C) and data rates that exceed the 120 kilo-baud (Mil-Std-188-110C). Rockwell Collins Government Systems (Canada), Inc., has demonstrated the EDM twice during FY- 15 to U.S. Army and USSOCOM engineers.

The Foreign Comparative Testing of a Tactical WBHF radio will require all of fiscal year 2016 to complete. The slated Government delivery schedule requires delivery of the radios by December 2015. Delivery past this timeframe would cause the Government to be unable to meet the objectives and timelines of the Foreign Comparative Testing Program.

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

Request for Information (RFI) number N00164-15-S-NB37 was issued to U.S.

companies on 7 April 2015.

NSWC Crane received two (2) responses from: (a) Riimic, LLC; DBA SUNAIR Electronics, 3131 SW 42nd Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312 (CAGE 5NW22) Phone: 858-243-5925, and (b) Rohde-Schwarz USA, Inc., 6821 Benjamin Franklin Drive, Columbia, MD 21046-2263 (CAGE 82199), Phone: 410-910-7800. The requiring technical activity performed an evaluation of both respondents.

Both respondents have WBHF radios that meet the requirements of MIL-STD-188- 110C and MIL-STD-188-141C, neither can meet the current requirement for wider bandwidth and higher data rates, nor the required Government delivery schedule of December 2015. Both respondents indicated a willingness to develop the wider bandwidths and increased data rates, but both indicated that additional investment by the Government and development time would be required to meet the current specification requirements. The earliest prototypes would be available is estimated to be 3rd or 4th Quarter, FY-16.

Based on that information, Rockwell Collins is the only known company that can fulfill the Government’s requirement of delivery in December 2015.

A synopsis was issued on 1 May 2015 as a sole source to Rockwell Collins Government Systems (Canada) Inc. SUNAIR Electronics expressed interest in the sole source procurement to Rockwell Collins. The Government technical team determined SUNAIR Electronics was currently at Technology Readiness Levels (TRL) IV compared to Rockwell Collins who is at TRL VII. Another company, Rohdes Schwartz, expressed interest in the sole source synopsis. The Government Technical team determined Rohdes Schwartz does not currently have the capability of meeting our requirement. Rhodes Schwartz is still interested in this requirement and has requested more rationale for why they were determined to be unacceptable. It is not practicable, for the reasons discussed in paragraphs 4 and 5 above, for any company other than Rockwell Collins Government (Canada) Systems, Inc., to provide the required supplies.

If the results of the Foreign Comparative Testing results in the government desiring to pursue a formal program of record, a new competitive contract is envisioned. Any new requirements will be synopsized and published in FEDBIZOPS in accordance with FAR 5.201. New request for proposals will be posted to the World Wide Web and any interested sources will be able to obtain a copy via the electronic means.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost.

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

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition.

Based on the results of the RFI, there are U.S. companies working on WBHF radios, but the solutions proposed are not mature enough to meet the Government’s current requirement. If a future requirement emerges, the Government expects to obtain a level III Build-To-Print Technical Data Package (TDP) or performance based specification (PBS) that will support competition for future acquisitions of the same or similar items.

CERTIFICATIONS AND APPROVAL

TECHNICAL/REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION (FAR 6.303-2(b))

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

TECHNICAL COGNIZANCE:

Chris Crombar, Branch Manager, WXQT, 812-854-4475_ _ Signature Name (Print) and Title (Code) Phone No. Date

REQUIREMENTS COGNIZANCE:

___________ Dennis Crites, Div. Manager, WXQ __812-854-4124_____________

LEGAL SUFFICIENCY REVIEW (NMCARS 5206.303(90))

I have determined this justification is legally sufficient.

___________ Mark Golden, Assistant Council 812-854-6784______________

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION (FAR 6.303-2(a)(12))

I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

______________Matthew Burkett, 0222 Contracting Officer, 812-854-8745 _

APPROVAL BLOCK (FAR 6.304 for Approving Official)

Upon the basis of the above justification, I hereby approve, as Contracting Officer, 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. 2304(c)(1).

Contracting Officer

Matthew Burkett, 0222 Contracting Officer, 812-854-8745 __

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY