Redacted JA.pdf

J&A No. MCINCR-RCO-22009

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL (J&A) FOR

FAR PART 13.5 ACQUISITION USING SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES TO

INCLUDE BRAND SPECIFICATIONS AND STANDARDS

1. Contracting Activity.

Contracting Activity: Marine Corps Installations National Capital Region - Regional Contracting Office (MCINCR-RCO), 2010 Henderson Road, MCB Quantico, VA 22134-5000

2. Description of the Action Being Approved.

Inclusion of brand name specifications or standards peculiar to one manufacturer in RFQ M00264-22-Q- 0111 for Bastille Networks Cellular Detection Hardware and Software (Annual Subscription) with one (1) one-year base period and four (4) one-year option periods.

This requirement will be competed amongst small business authorized product resellers of Bastille Networks, Inc. via the open market at Contract Opportunities, SAM.gov.

3. Description of the Supplies/Services.

Marine Corps Cyberspace Warfare Group (MCCWG) has a requirement for Bastille Cellular Detection Module and Annual Software Subscription in support of national security and the protection of classified government information. MCCWG requires the ability to determine and track unauthorized devices introduced to a secure facility, as well as a way to track authorized devices. Devices include, but not limited to, cell phones, pagers, GPS enabled devices, Bluetooth devices and Wi-Fi devices. The Bastille Radio Frequency (RF) Detection and Location system protects, secures and provides sensitive areas with a 100% passive system to actively track any transmittable device that is introduced to the space in real time. The Contractor will be responsible for installing a system of sensors linked to a server rack in a secure room that will be linked to a computer in a secure office to track and record the required data.

Base Year

Manufacturer Description Quantity Bastille Networks, Inc. Annual Software Subscription 1 Bastille Networks, Inc. Initial Hardware Setup and

Installation

Option Year 1

Manufacturer Description Quantity Bastille Networks, Inc. Annual Software Subscription 1

Option Year 2

Option Year 3

Option Year 4

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition.

The statutory authority permitting other than full and open competition is 10 U.S.C 2304(c)(1), “The property or services needed by the agency are available from only one responsible source or only from a limited number of responsible sources and no other type of property or services will satisfy the needs of the agency” as implemented by the Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 6.302-1(a)(2).

This document meets the regulatory requirement at DFARS 213.501(a)(ii) to execute the justification and approval addressed at FAR 13.501(a) in order to use proprietary specification or standard peculiar to one manufacturer. FAR Subpart 13.5 procedures are being utilized for this acquisition in accordance with 41 U.S.C. 1901.

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Authority.

Marine Corps Cyberspace Warfare Group (MCCWG) conducted a thorough investigation of current Radio Frequency (RF) Detection and Location capabilities and determined the Bastille Sensor Arrays and Cellular Detection Module was the only viable solution to meet the command’s operational mission requirements.

Specific characteristics of the Bastille Cellular Detection and Software Subscription that limit the availability to a particular Brand name include:

• Ability to detect and locate Bluetooth and Bluetooth low-energy (BLE) devices when paired.

Justification: Bluetooth/BLE device are rapidly growing in the market. One of the major issues MCCWG has encountered is Bluetooth/BLE devices being brought into restricted areas.

Technical: Bluetooth/BLE devices have the availability to connect up to three advertising channels.

However, once the device is paired, it stops advertising. This makes the device(s) blind to detection and location by all other tools in the market. However, Bastille Networks has patented the capability (Massive Multi-channel Demodulation (M2CD) US Patents #11,190,941 and #11,202,216) to detect Bluetooth/BLE devices on all communication channels. Bastille Networks system is composed of parallel decoders for all channels, providing the ability to detect all devices.

• 100% Passive System.

Justification: The primary goal of this effort is to reduce RF within MCCWG’s secure facility. RF-enabled devices introduce new risks and vulnerabilities and offer the threat actors new opportunities to compromise systems.

Technical: Bastille Networks has been certified by Federal Communication Corporation (FCC) as being 100% passive. Other viable competitors send RF burst to generate a response from devices.

• Upgradeable to incorporate new technologies without having to replace sensors.

Justification: New RF protocols or new versions of protocols are continuously being released.

MCCWG needs to ensure the system can easily and rapidly be upgraded to handle the new protocols.

It would be resource intensive to constantly replace the RF sensor when new protocols are released.

The Bastille firmware upgrade process ensures MCCWG will have no gaps in coverage and removes the need to replace sensors to incorporate new protocols into the system detection capability.

Technical: One of the differentiators of the Bastille sensor array is the massive amount of FPGA processing power that is available. With a 480k logic element Arria 10 SoC, the Bastille sensor array is capable of instantiating over 100 distinct protocol decoders in parallel that can simultaneously process the full 120 MHz RF bandwidth that is captured by the two SDR front-ends in the array. This is made possible with Bastille’s proprietary software-defined radios that run in the sensor array FPGA. The FPGA sensor decoders can be upgraded through a firmware update. As protocols such as Bluetooth, DECT, Z-Wave, goTenna, Zigbee and others evolve, Bastille will be able to handle such changes without requiring a hardware upgrade.

Bastille Networks, Inc. has restrictive rights and owns approximately 27 patents to the technologies created for this system. These patents prevent other companies from providing the same level of capability offered by Bastille and the level required by MCCWG.

When considering all of the above features and characteristics, the particular brand name, product, or feature is essential to the Government's requirements. Additionally, market research indicates other companies' similar products or products lacking a particular feature, do not meet, or cannot be modified to meet, the agency's needs.

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

Market research was conducted in accordance with FAR Part 10 via contacting knowledgeable individuals in Industry regarding market capabilities. Bastille Networks, Inc., the Original Equipment Manufacturer, was contacted on 20 July 2022 to identified authorized resellers/distributors of Bastille Networks. Bastille Networks reached out to their authorized resellers who are capable of providing the requested products.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost.

The Contracting Officer has determined that the anticipated cost to the Government of the supplies/services covered by this justification will be fair and reasonable through the use of competitive solicitation methods. Based on market research conducted, there is reasonable expectation two or more small businesses will respond to the solicitation for adequate price competition.

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition.

MCCWG will continue to monitor the market and conduct continuous market research in an effort to identify any emerging technologies that may satisfy future requirements. Should such technologies become available, MCCWG will seek competition to the maximum extent practicable.