Redacted JA 24-0218.pdf

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY

NAVAL AIR WARFARE CENTER AIRCRAFT DIVISION LAKEHURST

ROUTE 547

JOINT BASE MDL NEW JERSEY 08733

IN REPLY REFER TO:

J&A No. 24-0218

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity.

Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division (NAWC-AD) Lakehurst, NJ

2. Description of the Action Being Approved.

This Justification and Approval authorizes and approves on a sole source basis a contract to Rhinestahl Corp (CAGE 5QE71) located in Mason, OH for the procurement of Peculiar Support Equipment (PSE) end items for the T408-GE-400 engine on the CH-53K aircraft.

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

This acquisition is for the procurement of T408 PSE in support of the CH-53K Depot Level of Maintenance to assemble, disassemble, and repair the T408 engine. This PSE includes: build-up stands used in the assembly/dis-assembly process; PSE used in the process for the balancing of the engine rotor assemblies; PSE used to perform dimensional checks during the assembly/disassembly process; PSE used for the installation and assembly/disassembly of various engine modules or subcomponents. This PSE is critical for the depot maintenance of the T408-GE-400 engine. See Attachment 1 for a list of PSE.

Estimated Dollar Value in Millions

FY24-25

APN-1-Navy $8M

FMS $2M

Total $10M

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.

The required PSE was designed and developed strictly for use on T408-GE-400 engine to perform depot level maintenance. These items are unique to the T408-GE-400 engine and have no redundant use on any other aircraft due to specific engineering details. GE Aviation was contracted by Sikorsky, the Aircraft Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), to design and develop the T408-GE-400 engine and associated articles of Support Equipment, including the PSE identified in Section 3/Attachment 1. As the OEM, GE Aviation holds the proprietary data and drawing rights for the required end items. The Government does not have data or drawing rights to permit full and open competition. GE Aviation has authorized Rhinestahl Corp as its sole authorized manufacturer of T408 engine PSE, and as such, Rhinestahl Corp is the only company that has the requisite knowledge, sufficient technical data, drawings, software, and trained technical personnel to provide these items.

This is further substantiated by the assignment of the "3D" for the Acquisition Method Code which identifies direct purchase from the manufacturer due to data not being available. Award to any other source other than Rhinestahl Corp would require the need to reverse engineer the PSE.

Based on historical data associated with this PSE, a reverse engineering effort would result in an estimated fifty-two (52) month delay as follows: reverse engineering-eight (8) months;

development of a technical drawing package-eight (8) months; prototyping- eighteen (18) months; test & evaluation-eight (8) months; integrated logistics support development-six (6) months and training -four (4) months. This additional time would present an unacceptable delay in fulfilling fleet requirements for delivery schedule that is not expected to be recovered through competition. The Government has a requirement for depot capability stand-up at Fleet Readiness Center East by January 2026; failure to meet this date would result in downed aircraft and impact readiness. An award to another vendor would result in the Government being unable to meet this requirement.

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

In accordance with FAR Part 10, market research was conducted by the requirements office to determine the most suitable approach for this acquisition. Market research included internet searches conducted by the NAWCAD H-53K Engineering team to determine whether any other vendor could satisfy the Navy’s requirements. The Federal Procurement Data System, Dynamic Small Business Search, Google, Yahoo, and Bing internet search engines were queried for potential sources. No additional sources other than Rhinestahl Corp were identified, confirming that Rhinestahl Corp is the only source capable of meeting the requirement.

In accordance with Department of Defense FAR Supplement (DFARS) 206.302-1, and in an effort to identify possible sources for this requirement, NAWCAD posted a Sources Sought notice/Request for Information on the SAM.gov website on 13 June 2024 through 17 June 2024 and two responses were received. The first was received from BHPE, LLC on 14 June 2024 to express the vendor’s interest in the opportunity. In its response to BHPE on 17 June 2024, the Government re-stated the rationale for the sole source nature of the effort and its intent to issue a solicitation directly to Rhinestahl Corp; no further communications were received from BHPE.

On 17 June 2024, a response was received from Tiger Team Engineering (TTE) stating the vendor’s interest in any potential subcontracting opportunities related to this effort and requesting contact information for Rhinestahl Corp. The Government responded on the same day to inform the vendor that the Government would forward the vendor’s information as a potential subcontractor to Rhinestahl Corp. TTE responded to thank the Government; no further communications were received from TTE.

As required by FAR 5.203, the proposed contract was synopsized on the SAM.gov website from 18 June 2024 through 3 July 2024. No responses were received. Any responses received prior to contract award will be evaluated by the Contracting Officer.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost.

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

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition.

For the reasons set forth in paragraph 5, NAWC-AD has no plans to compete future contracts for the PSE being procured. If another potential source emerges, NAWC-AD will assess whether competition for future requirements is feasible.

CERTIFICATIONS AND APPROVAL

TECHNICAL/REQUIREMENTS CERTIFICATION

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

Technical Cognizance:

Ed Ceralde Date CH-53K Engineering

Requirements Cognizance:

Tahir Shah Date CH-53K SE Program Officer

LEGAL SUFFICIENCY REVIEW

I have determined this Justification is legally sufficient.

Daniel Carleton Date NAWCAD Lakehurst Office of General Counsel

CONTRACTING OFFICER CERTIFICATION

I certify that this Justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

Danielle Ramos Date Procuring Contracting Officer NAWC-AD Lakehurst Procurement Department

APPROVAL

Upon the basis of the above justification, I hereby approve the solicitation of the proposed procurement(s) described herein using other than full and open competition, pursuant to the authority of 10 U.S.C. 3204(a)(1) Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements.

PATRICK SMITH Date Procuring Activity Competition Advocate (PACA) NAWC-AD LKE Procurement Department