SSJ_APCON.docx

Sole Source Justification for Physical Layer Switch

1. Background – The Naval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport (NUWCDIVNPT) Code 25 Combat Control System Laboratories (CCSL) are constantly expanding the number of test bays and subsystems. With this expansion the number of physical network connections between the test bays and subsystems also increases. Currently there are two physical layer switches in the CCSL, one 288 port switch and one 64 port switch. These switches are currently maxed out and physical fiber and copper patch panels are being used for the excess connections. Due to the excessive age of the 64 port switch several ports are no longer working and this switch needs to be replaced and expanded upon.

2. Minimum Requirements- Switch must support Gigabit, 100Mbps and 10Mbps Ethernet to be compatible with all systems currently being used in the CCSL. Also, the switch must be capable of supporting all of these speeds on fiber and copper. The unit must also be capable of meeting NUWCDIVNPT’s current need of 115 fiber ports and 20 copper ports as well as the estimated 2 year expansion to 165 fiber ports and 40 copper ports. In order to meet this requirement Code 25 requires the following items:

3. Sole Source Justification- The physical layer switch and associated hardware to be purchased for the Code 25 CCSL must be APCON units. A similar APCON unit is already in use in the CCSL which was tested with the existing Submarine Warfare Federated Tactical Systems (SWFTS) interfaces and is known to operate correctly. Selecting a different vendor would require testing of the unit which could drastically increase the cost of the unit. Specifically, testing required for a unit other than APCON would require 80-160 man hours at an approximate cost of $8,000 to $16,000. Also CCSL test bay users are already trained in and familiar with the control software and Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) of APCON units. If a different vendor is selected the test bay users would require training for the new control software and GUI. This retraining would cost the Government an additional two hours for each of the eight personnel that modify presets and one hour for each of the 20-30 regular users at an estimated cost of $2,600 to $3,600. This brings the overall estimated additional cost to the Government to $10,600 in the best case scenario, a cost that is not likely to be recouped through competition.

APCON switches and associated hardware are only available through the manufacturer, APCON. As such, this requirement will be sole sourced to APCON.

Approval:

Encl (1) PR #1300349200