Redacted JA.pdf

J&A Number: 22-0222

JUSTIFICATION AND APPROVAL

FOR USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

1. Contracting Activity.

Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division (NAWCAD) Lakehurst, NJ

2. Description of the Action Being Approved.

This Justification and Approval (J&A) authorizes and approves on a sole source basis the issuance of a Firm-Fixed-Price contract to Parraid, LLC (Parraid) for the procurement of software maintenance agreement. The total period of performance is anticipated to be five years, comprised of one base year and four, one year option periods..

3. Description of Supplies/Services.

The NAWCAD Webster Outlying Field, Special Communications Mission Solutions (SCMS) Division has been tasked by the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) Radio Integration System (RIS) program to provide sustainment of software maintenance for fielded Parraid Network Radio Gateway (NRG) equipment. The SCMS Division is the lead system integrator and the life cycle sustainment manager for USSOCOM’s Program of Record RIS Family of Systems (FoS). The RIS FoS are full-scale, deployable, and scalable transit case variants that support deployed Combatant Commanders. RIS provides initial Command, Control, Communications, Computers, and Intelligence among deployed Special Operation Forces (SOF) bases and liaison office teams to SOF, SOF headquarters, and SOF support elements. The RIS provides SOF commanders “on the go” essential communications connectivity.

To meet USSOCOM’s tactical radio requirements, SOF users require the latest version of Parraid NRG software to be integrated within each fielded RIS NRG for use during down-range combat environments. The NRG software integrated into the RIS equipment provides deployed war fighters with Voice over Internet Protocol and Radio over Internet Protocol (RoIP) capability, allowing operational SOF users to seamlessly transmit voice and data communications to other operational components within the area of operations.

Estimated Dollar Value

FY22 -26

TOTAL

Operations and Maintenance, Defense Wide

$3,265,119

Total $3,265,119

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

41 U.S.C. 1901, Simplified acquisition procedures (Certain Commercial Items).

5. Rationale Justifying Use of Cited Statutory Authority.

The NRG software is designed, tested, and supported exclusively by Parraid and is compatible with the fielded equipment. The required Parraid software maintenance agreement provides support for the following: the previously-purchased and currently-fielded software hosted on a Parraid NRG or DRACOS, the computer controller licenses, and the client server seats (software installed on user computers). The requested software maintenance agreement provides periodic updates, quarterly security updates, and server software fixes. Parraid is the only entity authorized to maintain their proprietary software.

If an alternative maintenance support product were used, the Government would need to identify and field a different RoIP solution because the current RoIP solution’s security could not be maintained. Alternating the fielded RoIP solution would cause duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition. Current estimates to perform these additional duplicative efforts are approximately $2.2M, to include research ($25K), redesign ($50K), drawing package updates ($50K), testing ($40K), documentation updates ($30K), re-accreditation ($20K), and procurement of alternate RoIP solution ($2M).

Additionally, any change to the RoIP subsystem would result in a duplication of effort and delay the Government by 28 months. These delays include research (1 month), redesign (1 month), drawing package updates (2 months), testing (1 month), documentation updates (2 months), re-accreditation (3 months), and procurement of an alternate RoIP solution (18 months). If the required software maintenance agreement is not procured, the NRG systems become vulnerable to cybersecurity attacks, making the NRG “not compliant” with cybersecurity policies and existing accreditation.

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

Market research was conducted to identify commercially available maintenance solutions for Parraid software. Multiple suppliers were identified and reviewed to determine each supplier’s ability to meet the requirements for interoperability with existing software and hardware. Of the manufacturers identified in the market research, Parraid is the only manufacturer capable of providing software maintenance that meets the requirements.

Further market research was conducted via General Services Administration (GSA) Advantage and the Defense Logistics Agency’s (DLA’s) Public Logistics (PUB LOG) Federal Logistics Information System (FLIS) for the requested maintenance for Parraid software. The search of the DLA PUB LOG FLIS and GSA Advantage yielded no results. Parraid has no authorized distributors for maintenance of Parraid software.

A Request for Information (RFI) for software maintenance agreements was posted on 17 December 2021 with a response date of 31 December 2021. Parraid submitted information in response to the RFI and indicated that they could provide the software maintenance agreements that are designed for and interoperable with the NRG fielded equipment.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost.

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

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition.

For the reasons stated in paragraph 5, only Parraid can meet the requirements for providing software maintenance. The Government will continue to evaluate other technologies that would allow for future competition by conducting market research to determine if there are any future vendors that have the capability to meet this requirement.