Redacted ATE Bridge EFOJ 22 April 2021.pdf

Control No: SP-EFO21-0784

FAR Part 16 Exception to Fair Opportunity Justification Under Multiple Award Indefinite Delivery Contracts

For Actions Exceeding the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (SAT)

1. Contracting Activity: Department of the Army, Army Contracting Command – Redstone (ACC-RSA), CCAM-SPB, Redstone Arsenal, AL 35898-5000.

2. Description of Action: U.S. Army Program Executive Office – Aviation (PEO AVN) requests approval to award a bridge Task Order (TO) against the GSA OASIS contract GS00Q14OADS329, on a firm-fixed-price basis, with QuantiTech, LLC, 360A Quality Circle NW, Ste 100, Huntsville, AL 35806, Cage Code: 0S9B5. The Government projects award for this action by the mid May 2021. Research Development Test & Evaluation (RDTE) and Procurement funds will be used.

The Program Executive Office – Aviation (PEO AVN) Aviation Turbine Engines (ATE) Project Office (PO) currently has an OASIS task order for engineering and program management support services (GSQ4016SJ0093) with the General Service Administration (GSA) Assisted Acquisitions Services (AAS) division. The follow on effort, currently being competitively procured through ACC-RSA, CCAM-PL-A is expected to be awarded in May 2021. The current effort expires 13 May 2021. This bridge task order is being issued to ensure transition support is available and provide options in an event of any delay in the start of performance. The expected transition time is one month. This bridge order will be the first issued for continued performance.

3. Description of Supplies/Services:

ATE is chartered with managing the Improved Turbine Engine (ITE), T700 engines, T55 engines, and Electrical Power Systems (EPS). The ITE Product Office, within ATE PO, is focused on the development of a new 3,000 Shaft Horsepower (SHP) turboshaft engine that will replace the T700 Family of Engines for the Army Black Hawk and Apache fleets. The new engine will provide significant power enhancement, increased range, reduced fuel consumption and increased reliability bringing 6K/95 capability to the Army’s Utility and Attack fleet. The T700/T55 Product Office is tasked with managing the requirements, procurement, delivery, and sustainment of propulsion systems for fielded rotary-wing aircraft. The EPS office is tasked with providing technical expertise and management for electrical power systems across PEO AVN. In addition, this office is projecting future aviation electrical loads and architectures required to ensure Army aviation platforms have the electrical power capabilities needed to on-board future technologies and capabilities. These systems include main generators, energy storage systems, Auxiliary Power Units, Supplemental Power Units, power electronics, thermal management, and power management.

This effort covers engineering and program management support services to ATE PO.

This effort includes technical and engineering efforts, resource management support, cost estimating/analysis, schedule development/assessment, program management plans and integration, strategic planning and analysis, acquisition support, data base management for resource management support, integrated product support and operational requirements in support of ATE PO. Additionally, effort is required for various mission requirements for successful execution of program office acquisition initiatives for on-going development, testing, and integration efforts in support of ATE

PO.

This Justification and Approval will provide a one month base, from 14 May 2021 to 13 June 2021 for a labor amount of and 7,900 hours. Option period 1 will provide one month of coverage from 14 June 2021 to 13 July 2021 for a labor amount of and 7,900 hours. Option period 2 will provide one month of coverage from 14 Jul 2021 to 13 Aug 2021 for a labor amount of and 7,900 hours. Option period 3 will provide one month of coverage from 14 Aug 2021 to 13 Sep 2021 for a labor amount of and 7,900 hours. Option period 4 will provide one month of coverage from 14 Sep 2021 to 13 Oct 2021 for a labor amount of and 7,900 hours. Option period 5 will provide one month of coverage from 14 Oct 2021 to 13 Nov 2021 for a labor amount of and 7,900 hours. This will result in a total 6 month effort, with a maximum Period of Performance (POP) of 14 May 2021 – 13 November 2021, for a total labor cost of , a Contract Access Fee (CAF) of and travel of for a grand total of .

4. Authority Cited:

10 U.S.C. 2304c(b)(3) as implemented by FAR Part 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. Reason for Authority Cited:

(a) This requirement is in the interest of economy and efficiency, as this bridge will prevent an unacceptable disruption in services during the time it takes to award the follow-on re-compete task order. It is anticipated that without the approval of this requirement there will be a break in service while the follow-on task order is reviewed and awarded, resulting in critical mission failure. This limited sources procurement to QuantiTech, LLC, 360A Quality Circle NW, Ste 100, Huntsville, AL 35806, Cage Code:

0S9B5, is critical to successfully meet the requirements of the ATE PM. The logical follow-on to the current Task Order is critical to ongoing activities that support the U.S.

Army worldwide. If this bridge is not approved, there will be a disruption of support capabilities, such as synchronization/coordination of critical documentation required for assigned weapon systems, management of strategic and operations issues within the PM and its stakeholders, and analysis of mission critical data/information required to support ACAT level documentation. Failure to perform the performance requirements will hinder unit combat readiness. The ATE PM will be unable to adequately meet requirements which could result in insufficient mix of resources such as funding, equipment, manpower, and the support necessary for warfighting capabilities which could potentially cause mission failure.

It would be unrealistic to expect another contractor to perform during this time due to the following:

Continuity of Service:

QuantiTech has the required technical expertise and personnel in place that would eliminate duplication of efforts and any unnecessary/additional costs that may possibly be incurred if the bridge effort was awarded to a new contractor. It is anticipated that it would take approximately three (3) to six (6) months to train and familiarize a new contractor with policies, procedures, regulations, and technical knowledge to support the ATE. Many additional costs beyond those associated with labor would also be considered (i.e. TDY, security clearances, etc.). All of these efforts are critical to meeting the mission requirements of ATE. The time anticipated for a new contractor to familiarize and onramp would cover the complete time of this bridge. Therefore, it is not economical or efficient to award this action to a new contractor. Without the support of the current contractor, the impact to the Army would be loss of critical knowledge and would likely result in mission failure due to personnel unable to support missions such as the Future Attack Reconnaissance Aircraft which is the Army aviation’s number one modernization priority.

(b) Alternatives: Suspend Operations: If this bridge action is not granted, there will be no other alternative except to suspend operations until the new TO is awarded. Failure to perform the technical support services to implement the acquisition, test and evaluation, production, deployment, and logistics strategies for the PEO Aviation systems would result in mission failure. Suspension of operations would be unsuccessful in accomplishing the Army and PEO Aviation's mission of designing, developing, delivering and supporting advanced aviation capabilities. Quantitech is the only company immediately capable of providing the required support until the competitive follow-on task order is awarded. Specifically, the Improved Turbine Engine Program (ITEP) which is supported by this effort, is the engine for FARA and is the Army aviation’s number one modernization program with an aggressive timeline. Any delay to this action would directly impact the FARA first flight timeline at the cost of $25M per month. As a result, the suspension of operations is not a viable alternative.

The functions procured under this task order are specialized and the Government does not possess the staff to provide support. The use of in-house personnel/expertise is not an option as there are simply not enough qualified Government personnel to perform the services delineated in the performance requirements. The ATE PO consist of 120 personnel to include core government employees. Of those 120 personnel, 51 are support contractors. Loss of coverage would reduce the workforce by approximately 43%.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition:

a. Effective Competition. It is not anticipated to utilize another source for this bridge since QuantiTech personnel are currently performing the requirement and have the immediate in-depth knowledge and experience necessary to meet the TO requirements in the required timeframe. It is anticipated that it would take approximately three to six months to train and familiarize a new contractor with policies, procedures, regulations, and technical knowledge needed to support the ATE PM. Many additional costs beyond those associated with labor would also be considered (i.e. TDY, security clearances, etc.). There are no efforts to obtain competition for this bridge action at the current time.

10. Other Facts:

The current effort for this procurement was awarded on 09 September 2016 utilizing GSA OASIS. It was awarded as a small business set aside, Order Number:

GSQ0417DB0104 ID04170194 for a period of one base year and four options years with a Not to Exceed (NTE) of . Due to an increase in the need for additional labor, the order was modified to shorten the period of performance to end May 2021.

Prior to that, the ATE PO was utilizing nine different contract vehicles through five different project offices for eighteen contractors:

BPA /Order

Number

Prime

Contractor

Current Project Office

# of ATE Employees on

Task Order

W31P4Q-05-A- 0031 Task Order 0038

Science Applications International Corp

Software Engineering Directorate

W31P4Q-05-A- 0031 Task Order 0037

Science Applications International Corp

Software Engineering

W31P4Q-09-A- 0021 Task Order 0007

Torch Technologies, Inc.

Engineering

W31P4Q-10-A- 0029 Task Order 0001 PeopleTec, Inc. Utility Helicopter

W31P4Q-05-A- 0020 Task Order 0045

VT Aepco, Inc. Utility Helicopter

W31P4Q-05-A- 0024 Task Order 0038

CAS, Inc. Utility Helicopter

W31P4Q-14-A- 0003 Task Order 0001

AI Signal Research, Inc.

Engineering

W31P4Q-09-A- 0023 Task Order 0058

Aviation & Missile Solutions, Inc.

Program Executive Office Aviation, Headquarters

W31P4Q-10-A- 0009 Task Order 0002

MTA, Inc.

Armed Scout Helicopter

Distribution Statement A- Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited; as submitted under ACC-RSA Public Release Authorization 2021-023.