Redacted J_A.pdf

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Nature and/or Description of Action

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA) contracting activity proposes to procure, without using full and open competition, support services for the Arms Control Enterprise System (ACES). DTRA intends to award a sole source contract to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation pursuant to the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) Subpart 6.3

2. Description of Supplies/Services Required

This work was previously solicited under the GSA Alliant ID/IQ contract GS00Q09BGD0056 among 59 contract performers. A robust technical package was provided to all potential offerors to outline the technical aspects of the system; however, only one contractor (Northrup Grumman) offered a proposal.

Services are required for software operations and maintenance of ACES, which is a highly complex specialized arms control treaty notification workflow and data management/reporting system. ACES provides arms control treaty equipment tracking, notification generation and workflow, official treaty reporting as well as a robust repository of arms control data supporting numerous conventional and strategic arms control treaties and agreements. ACES is used by DTRA, Department of Defense (DoD), Joint Staff, Armed Services, United States (U.S) European Command, U.S Army Europe, U.S Air Forces Europe and the State Department’s Nuclear Risk Reduction Center (NRRC) and Arms Control Verification & Compliance (AVC) Office personnel tasked with the execution and management of arms control treaties and agreements. The intended Period of Performance is 22MAY2021 – 21MAY2026 and the estimated dollar value is approximately $15M.

3. Statutory Authority:

The statutory authority for this non-competitive action is pursuant to 10 U.S.C. 2304(c)(1) and FAR 6.302-1(a)(2), which states that “when supplies or services required by the agency are available from only one responsible source, or, for DoD, NASA, and the Coast Guard, from only one or a limited number of responsible sources, and no other type of supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, full and open competition need not be provided for.”

4. Applicability of Authority:

There is only one responsible source that can provide services to operate and maintain the ACES software due the complexity of the system and the ongoing integration initiatives. The system is complex as it supports numerous treaties and agreements with different rules and constraints regarding the movement, reporting, and notification of treaty reportable assets. The ongoing initiatives include the integration of the Automated Data System (ADS) treaty report/chart

DEFENSE THREAT REDUCTION AGENCY

8725 John J. Kingman Road, Stop 6201

Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-6201 printing software into ACES as well as the integrating of the Inspection Planning Module (IPM).

The integration of chart printing capabilities will remove the reliance on an internationally owned software application. The IPM facilitates passport/visa issuance, passport/visa application processing and provides treaty list management capabilities in support of arms control inspection and escort activity. The integration of IPM into ACES will result in significant cost savings, improved user experience, simplified maintainability and improved security. Awarding to another source would result in a substantial duplication of cost to the Government that would not be recovered through competition.

Based upon DTRA’s market research, the team has not found a company/performer who has the detailed technical understanding of the ACES capabilities combined with arms control and treaty expertise which is crucial for the successful completion of this requirement. For treaty reporting or notification changes that are negotiated and agreed to within international forums, implementation dates are agreed to in advance and delays in U.S. adoption of changes due to ACES delays could result in missing treaty reporting/notification requirements and/or interruptions to treaty-wide improvements for all participating nations. The current performer has the institutionalized knowledge of the active/inactive treaties and agreements as well as extensive and unique knowledge of all general system operations and maintenance requirements.

With possible changes to the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, also known as the New START Treaty (or NST), the ongoing integration of the IPM and ADS, it is essential that the current user experience is maintained for continuity for mission support and allowing for completion of multiple integration efforts. Awarding to another source would, therefore, result in an unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agency’s requirements.

5. Effort to Solicit Potential Sources:

On 10 December 2020, a Request for Information (RFI)/ Sources Sought was posted on www.beta.sam.gov, under Contract Opportunities, entitled: “DTRA- Arms Control Enterprise System (ACES) and Inspection Planning Module (IPM).” There were no official responses received by the published deadline of 17 December 2020.

On 23 December 2020, the Contracting Officer received an email inquiry from an IT company followed by a Capabilities Statement on 08 January 2021. Although it was past the deadline, the team recognizes that market research is continuous and vetted the response nonetheless in an effort to be thorough with all any and all information received. The PM determined that this potential performer would not likely be successful to support the ACES requirement due to the lack of arms control and/or treaty reporting expertise. In addition, the Contracting Officer contacted the company and they confirmed that they do not have experience specifically with arms control treaties. Based on the above, it is found that there is only one responsible source to perform this work.

6. Fair and Reasonable Cost:

The anticipated cost/price of this contract will be determined to be fair and reasonable based on a comparison of proposed prices to the Independent Government Cost Estimate (IGCE), previous prices, historical data, and based on negotiations.

7. Market Research:

In accordance with FAR Part 10, thorough market research was conducted. The team reviewed historical acquisition information, previous contracts, publication of sources sought announcements, personal knowledge in procuring services of this type, existing DoD-wide contracts, and GSA schedules.

The team also reviewed the marketplace through internet sources and found eleven (11) vendors that have software development experience; however, none of these contractors have thorough knowledge of the ACES software application and how it is coded to support the interrelated arms control treaties and agreements. Northrop Grumman is the only contractor in the industry with the capabilities required to maintain the ACES application, assist with the IPM integration, complete the ADS integration and work possible NST and other treaty changes that could be needed with minimal notice.

8. Other Facts:

Development of a new software is cost prohibitive. The existing software works well and the existing performer has been fulfilling the requirement with no performance issues. This requirement cannot sustain a gap in service which would result in a significant risk of negative impact to the United States’ ability to meet a variety of politically and legally binding arms control treaty and agreement notification and reporting requirements. The additional estimated cost for a new performer to complete this requirement is approximately $3M. The additional cost is attributed to the expected need of the following: one (1) full-time NST Subject Matter Expert (SME) for the first 2 years and part-time for the remaining 3 years; one (1) full-time Conventional Arms Control Treaties and Agreements SME for the first 2 years and part-time for the remaining 3 years; one additional full-time programmer the first 2 years; one (1) part-time employee for Systems Administration work in the first year; and one (1) part-time Database Administrator in the first year. This estimate was based on the historical data from previous contracts as well as the appropriate level of effort and labor mix required to complete this work.

9. Subsequent Actions

DTRA will continuously monitor new developments in this field and incorporate a Support Transition Plan to ensure that the system services is fully documented to help support follow-on efforts in order to maximize competition in the future.

10. Interested Sources

As stated in Section 5 above, there was interest from an IT company but does not have the expertise/experience for arms control treaties.

Technical Certification

I certify that the data and information forming the basis for this justification are accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Thomas Laufer Program Manager

Joyce Gamboa Contracting Officer

General Counsel Coordination

This justification is legally sufficient.

Joseph Fratarcangeli Associate General Counsel

Competition Advocate Coordination

Elizabeth Braxton Competition Advocate

Approval

Based on the above justification, I hereby approve accomplishment of this acquisition by means of other than using full and open competition.

David Miller Head of the Contracting Activity (HCA)

Elizabeth R. Braxton