Redacted Exception to Fair Opportunity.pdf

of materials, in support of the technical advancement and maturation of the TETRA system, subsystems, payloads, ancillary and support equipment. The current Task Order for this tasking is N6660418DC818/N6660425FC846, which was solicited as full and open competition under the Code 45 UUV Family of Systems multiple-award contract.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

The contractor shall provide fabrication and manufacture of materials and technical, engineering and program management services for the technical advancement and maturation of the TETRA system, subsystems, payloads, ancillary and support equipment. The engineering and technical services will be to perform conceptual design studies, engineering development, analysis, maintenance, installation, and testing of the existing TETRA systems and subsystems, as well as other payloads and capabilities that will be integrated into TETRA vehicles for the advancement and technical maturation of the system. Specific tasking includes:

Technical services including attending program management reviews, technical exchange meetings and test readiness reviews; participating in integrated product teams; providing configuration management services; updating, Technical Data Packages; providing quality management system oversight; and designing temporary alteration process;

TETRA Services including system hardware, firmware and software modification evaluation; design analysis and assessment; system software and firmware modifications; hardware sustainment; testing; software, firmware and hardware implementation and integration; system certification; shipboard installation/integration; operator training, integrated logistics services; and cybersecurity surveillance;

TETRA Materials including prototype fabrication; and testing and acceptance of hardware.

Estimated Dollar Value

Fund types – Operation & Maintenance, Navy (O&MN), Other Procurement, Navy (OPN), and Research, Development, Test & Evaluation, Navy (RDT&EN)

4. Identification of the Exception to Fair Opportunity.

FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C) The order must be issued on a sole-source basis in the interest of economy and efficiency because it is a logical follow-on to an order already issued under the contract, provided that all awardees were given a fair opportunity to be considered for the original order.

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Exception to Fair Opportunity.

Solicitation N66604-24-R-0168 was issued on 2 July 2024 to all Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) Family of Systems (FoS) Multiple Award Contract (MAC) awardees. The solicitation required offerors to be eligible for award in all twelve (12) functional areas on the basic contract. Of the twenty-three (23) MAC awardees, twelve (12) were eligible to propose as a prime contractor on the requirement. Of the 12 eligible companies, only one offer was received from OII. The subsequent task order N6660418DC818/N6660425FC846 was awarded on 12 December 2024 to OII in support of the same tasking that this task order will yield.

Code 45 is currently receiving engineering and program management services, including fabrication and manufacturing of materials from OII, in support of the technical advancement and maturation of the TETRA system, subsystems, payloads, ancillary and support equipment, under order N6660418DC818/N6660425FC846. For this current requirement, only OII can perform and deliver the needed capability in order to support a deployment mission i

If the requirement were to be awarded to another MAC award holder, the transition to another contractor would add an additional one (1) year delay to this timeframe, and any delays due to a transition of tasking will result in missing future operational windows of opportunity. This is because the TETRA ROV uses in the baseline design that have been approved by NAVSEA and the TETRA system is an emerging, complex system not readily portable to another company without a steep learning curve at the new vendor.

In addition, the Government requires continued services from OII following the operational window of opportunity to continue development and maturation of the TETRA system and subsystems to integrate payloads and capabilities as advancements occur. No other company can provide this seamless support without significant duplication of cost and effort.

In addition to schedule impact, it would cost the Government an additional to ramp up a new contractor to complete this critical tasking. This includes duplicative costs mainly for transitioning the system to a new MAC holder, replacing existing proprietary hardware, retesting, recertifying for submarine use, retraining operators – just to arrive at the current system state.

Based on the above, it is not reasonable to conclude the potential savings from competition can offset the duplicative cost and schedule/mission impact associated with contracting with a different company.

Therefore, it is in the best interest of the Government to solicit this requirement on a sole source basis.

6. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost.

The Contracting Officer has determined the anticipated cost to the Government of the supplies/services covered by this Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity will be fair and reasonable, as documented in a Business Clearance Memorandum prior to award of the Task Order.

7. Other Supporting Facts.

None.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition.

Code 45 will continue monitoring the emerging programmatic landscape (vendor performance, cost, emerging viable competitors). It is anticipated the next iteration of this acquisition may be solicited as competitive requirement as the TETRA program will be further developed and the right conditions may allow for a competitive solicitation.

CERTIFICATIONS AND APPROVAL

TECHNICAL/REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION

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

Requirements Cognizance:

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION

I certify that this Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity is accurate and

CHIEF OF THE CONTRACTING OFFICE APPROVAL

I certify that this Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

NUWCDIVNPT TECHNICAL DIRECTOR APPROVAL

Upon the basis of the above Justification for an Exception to Fair Opportunity, I hereby approve, as NUWCDIVNPT Technical Director, the solicitation of the proposed procurement(s) described herein using other than full and open competition, pursuant to the authority of FAR 16.505(b)(2)(i)(C).