25GWM42_NONCOMP REDACTED.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THENAVY

NAVAL SURFACE WARFARE CENTER

CRANE DIVISION

300 HIGHWAY 361

CRANE, INDIANA 47522-5001

IN REPLY REFER TO:

J&A Number: CR-22300 Code: 0243

P.R. Number: N0016423RWM42

CLASS JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL (CJ&A)

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

JUSTIFICATION

1. Contracting Activity

The Naval Sea Systems Command, Naval Surface Warfare Center, Crane Division (NSWC-CR), Spectrum Warfare Contracts Division, Maritime Electronic Warfare and IR/RF Systems Contracts Branch, Code 0243.

2. Description of the Action Being Approved

Award of a Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) and subsequent orders on a sole source basis to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation (hereafter referred to as NGSC), CAGE code:

15055, 15808 W. Nursery Rd, Linthicum Heights, MD. The BOA orders will procure spares, maintain design agent engineering services, repair and recondition failed operational assemblies, and establish organic depot capability within the Government in support of the Surface Electronic Warfare Improvement Program (SEWIP) Block 3 subsystem. The capability and architecture supported is integral to the AN-SLQ32(V)7 Electronic Warfare system configuration.

Authority to act under this CJ&A expires on 23 APRIL 2029.

3. Description of Supplies/Services

The planned action is to establish a 5-year, Basic Ordering Agreement (BOA) for spares, repairs, engineering services, and depot stand-up support for SEWIP Block 3. The BOA will predominantly provide for supply procurements (approximately 84%) with services (approximately 16%) being incidental to the supply purchases.

J&A Number: CR-22300

The Government’s minimum needs have been verified by certifying technical and requirements personnel.

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.

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority

As the developer and producer of the Block 3 system, NGSC is the only source capable of providing the highly specialized equipment and services required to support Block 3 initial system fielding and sustainment without incurring unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements.

NGSC has developed and produced Block 3 under contracts N0002415C5319 and N0002420C5519. Block 3 is early in the production and deployment phase (as defined by DoDI 5000.85) of the lifecycle and little reliability data exists. NGSC currently provides support for integration of Low-Rate Initial Production (LRIP) units 1 and 2 with LRIP 3 planned to begin in FY23. The highly specialized and complex architecture of this system requires an immense knowledge base and familiarity in order to meet the agency’s requirements. The Government requirements for this effort are in accordance with the Block 3 Fielding Plan.

While Unlimited and Government Purpose Rights were procured and open standards were utilized during the initial design acquisition, the Technical Data Package (TDP) delivered is insufficient for competition of these requirements. Many of the drawings are limited to Source Control Drawings (SCD) which lack the technical detail to resolve many installation, maintenance, and reliability issues, or to develop depot-level repair capability.

Therefore, NGSC is currently the only source with the requisite specialized understanding of the Block 3 system architecture, software, firmware, and hardware. However, as the part of this agreement, the Government will pursue higher-quality, detailed design and source data for the majority of components to establish competition in future procurements.

The Government projects based on engineering estimates that an award to another source would result in delay of approximately 60 months in fulfilling these requirements

(see NSWC-CR PSTRAP-M CR-22257, Section 2B.4.1) due to the need to develop technical expertise (9 months), reverse engineer components and develop product support documents (16 months), develop test procedures and processes (24 months) and develop test sets and equipment (12 months). In relation to the fielding plan, this delay would be unacceptable as it would result in a decrease of operational availability for as many as 10 ships.

As the developer and producer of the Block 3 system, NGSC is the only source capable of providing the highly specialized equipment and services required to support the Block 3 system without incurring unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements.

Further, a source other than NGSC would require extensive duplication of costs. The Government projects the duplicative cost to be in excess of $31M (see NSWC-CR PSTRAP-M CR-22257, Section 2B.4.1) based on engineering estimates of the cost to develop procedures, expertise, and equipment needed to test and diagnose the Block 3 system failures. Based on these considerations, only NGSC has the required highly specialized knowledge and experience to deliver the required supplies and perform the required services without substantial duplication of cost that is not expected to be recovered through competition.

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

Market research was conducted by searching previous purchases of similar or identical acquisitions and only NGSC was identified as having the capabilities to perform the requirements in support of the Block 3 system.

Request for Information (RFI), N0016422SNB44, was issued to SAM.gov on 7 March 2022 and an amended version was posted on 17 March 2022. The RFI closed on 14 April 2022. An official response was received from NGSC with a market research questionnaire attachment. Two additional inquiries were received. Specifically, Integrity Defense Services and Herrick Technology Labs responded with requests for additional information and clarifications, which were provided by NSWC-CR in a timely manner. Neither Integrity Defense Services, nor Herrick Technology Labs, provided a capabilities statement or other documentation showing its abilities or approach to meeting the requirements listed within the RFI. As such, based on its response to the RFI and NSWC-CR’s knowledge base, NGSC is viewed as the only known responsible source capable of meeting the requirements.

The proposed contract was synopsized on the SAM website on 18 July 2022 and only NGSC expressed an interest in this requirement. No additional market research was conducted because it is not practicable, for the reasons discussed in paragraph 5 above, for any company other than NGSC to provide the required supplies and services.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Costs

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

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Competition

For the reasons set forth in Paragraph 5, NSWC-CR has no plans at this time to compete future procurements for the required supplies and services. If another potential source emerges, NSWC-CR will assess if competition for future requirements is feasible. As this is a follow-on for supplies and services previously awarded on a non-competitive basis, in accordance with DFARS PGI 206.304(a)(i), the prior J&A was provided to the approval authority for review. Approval of this CJ&A signifies the approval authority has made the determination required by DFARS PGI 206.304(a)(ii).

Furthermore, this procurement will build NSWC-CR’s engineers’ technical and sustainment capabilities by improving the Government’s level of expertise on the SEWIP Block 3 system. NSWC-CR’s engineers acquired technical and sustainment capabilities from prior actions, but not sufficiently to avoid the need for this CJ&A. The Government will pursue higher-quality, detailed design and source data for the majority of components during this agreement to establish competition in future procurements.