Redacted JA PAD.pdf

Controlled Unclassified Information

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN

FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

I. Contracting Activity.

This Justification and Approval (J&A) is to request authority for Other Than Full and Open Competition supporting requirements generated for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center (AFLCMC), Fighter and Advanced Aircraft Directorate, F-15 Eagle Division (WAQ).

The contracting activity for this requirement is AFLCMC/WAQ.

II. Nature and/or Description of the Action Being Processed.

Due to the circumstances described herein, the activity requests authority to acquire the services listed in this document using Other Than Full and Open Competition as prescribed by FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements. This action will result in the award of a Requirements – Indefinite Delivery Contract (IDC), which will be utilized as a follow-on contract for continued specialized sustainment support. This contract will consist of a one (1) year basic period and two (2) one-year ordering periods. The requirements contract will include Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract line item numbers (CLINs). The validity period of the contract is projected to be 29 March 2021 through 28 March 2024.

This sole source requirement will be purchased from the following company:

Industrial Electronic Engineers, Inc.

DBA IEE

7723 Kester Ave Van Nuys, CA 91405-1105

CAGE: 05464

Small Business

III. Description of the Supplies/Services Required to Meet Agency Needs.

This requirement is for the repair of the Passive Attack Display (PAD), NSN: 7025-01-651- 7225FX (P/N: 70810-01) in support of the Passive Attack Sensor System (PASS). PASS is designed to provide Sniper Pod capability to the United States Air Force (USAF) F-15C/D fleet and the PAD gives the F-15 operator a visual of that capability. This three year repair contract is required so that the F-15 System Program Office can transition the sustainment of the PAD to a partnership between the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and 409th Sustainment.

The following is the estimated value by period for this acquisition:

the Requirements IDC, completion of all delivery/task orders, and any increases beyond the maximum stated BEQs.

This repair effort was screened resulting in a Repair Method Code (RMC)/Repair Method Suffix Code (RMSC) of R4D. RMC 4 means to repair for the first time, directly from the actual manufacturer. RMSC D means the data needed to repair this part competitively is not physically available, it cannot be obtained economically, nor is it possible to draft adequate specifications or any other adequate, economical description of the material for a competitive solicitation.

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

10 U.S.C. 2304(c) (1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1, Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

V. Demonstration that the Contractor’s Unique Qualifications or Nature of the Acquisition Requires the Use of the Authority Cited Above (Applicability of Authority).

FAR 6.302-1(d)(1) requires an ordering activity to justify its actions when restricting competition. The agency's minimum needs can only be satisfied by the unique supplies and services available from the above cited source. This source possesses unique capabilities demonstrated as follows:

IEE offered full disclosure in the two design reviews, at no cost, and the Government received a set of drawings that showed the commercial off the shelf (COTS) parts they bought and the associated wiring connecting them. However, the Government does not have the firmware or program files (proprietary to IEE) necessary for the PAD to function in the F-15 in its current configuration.

The U.S. Government acquired 275 PADs from IEE to support the PASS modification for the USAF F-15 C/D fleet. The Government owns Level II engineering drawings specifications for the Passive Attack Display (PAD) minor repair actions, which allows F-15 Engineering to respond to field inquiries as it related to the basic structure and wiring of the PAD in the cockpit.

During the initial acquisition, the complete data package was not acquired by the Government so this proprietary data (software/BIOS/firmware) is not owned by the Government because IEE refused to sell it to the Government. A complete TDP is required in order to repair the PAD. The Government has limited repair data but does not possess a complete TDP, precluding organic and competitive repair. However, on 26 August 2020, the F-15 SPO sent a request to IEE to purchase the data but on 14 Sep 2020, IEE declined as they consider the data package proprietary to their company. Therefore this instant acquisition is necessary for the continued repair performance of a highly specialized item/system.

Award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition and unacceptable delays in fulfilling the Air Force’s requirements. Qualifying a new source would include new supplier startup, performing qualification, first article testing, acceptance testing, and flight test. Similar efforts (i.e. the current F-15 PAD, the F-15 Flat Panel Color Display Variant, and the F-15 Flat Panel Control Indicator) were evaluated by the Integrated Product Team (IPT) in Dec 2019 because of similar complexity and were estimated to exceed over five million dollars and expected to take over three years to complete. The additional cost and time delay estimates are based on the acquisition process and the safety of flight concerns based on the avionics nature of the part, resulting in an extended Developmental and Operational Testing effort. Due to the critical demand, limited schedule and cost, and the fact that the Government does not own the data for this repair, it is not economically feasible and in the Government's best interest to develop another qualified source through reverse engineering. Market research identified IEE as the sole source because they are the only company with the capability to repair this item due to their proprietary rights. IEE is also currently providing this service under contract number FA850516P0001, which is a six-month extension, sole source contract to repair the assets as required to provide the necessary data to transfer to sustainment. This current extension was awarded on 29 Sep 2020 and expires on 28 Mar 2021. The Government does not possess the detailed engineering information that would enable a new vendor to successfully repair this item without incurring substantial duplication of cost and an unacceptable delay for this repair effort. If not awarded, repairs cannot be made on fielded PAD units which prevents the ability to display critical mission information, ultimately resulting in canceled sorties. Additionally, there is not adequate time to pursue a re-engineer effort as the life of the PAD is considered to be 4-6 years due to incoming aircraft modifications that will be replacing the Display System.

Although there are other vendors who can manufacture PADs, the proprietary nature of the software in each PAD precludes the use of another vendor for repair. The PAD software is a specialized software that is only used for military applications.

Accordingly, IEE is the only firm capable of providing the supplies and services described in Section III above without the U.S. Air Force experiencing substantial duplication of cost that could not expected to be recovered through competition and unacceptable delays in fulfilling its requirements.

VI. Description of Efforts Made to Ensure that Offers are Solicited From as Many Potential Sources as Practicable.

A Sources Sought (SS) / Request for Information (RFI) synopsis was posted to Federal Business Opportunities (FedBizOpps) on 13 December 2019 with a response date of 25 January 2020 under Solicitation Number FA8505-20-R-0003. The SS/RFI requested responses from interested vendors that possess the expertise, capabilities, and experience to meet qualification requirements for this effort. Three vendors responded to the SS/RFI. One vendor was evaluated and deemed not capable due to no prior experience in similar work. Two vendors, including IEE, were evaluated for their capability and determined to be technically capable based on prior experience of the same or similar efforts. However, due to the need for the proprietary data from IEE and the company’s decline to sell, IEE is considered the only viable contractor for this effort.

The requirement will be synopsized in FedBizOpps in accordance with FAR 5.201. It is anticipated that sources having an interest in subcontracting may be identified through synopsis.

Any source who responds to the Government as a result of this synopsis will be identified to the prime contractor as a potential subcontracting possibility.

VII. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the Anticipated Cost to the Government will be Fair and Reasonable.

The overall cost of this acquisition will be fair and reasonable to the Government. In accordance with FAR 15.403-3, the Contracting Officer will require the submission of other than certified cost or pricing data. Price analysis or cost analysis based on information other than certified cost or pricing data will be used to examine and evaluate the proposed prices to determine fair and reasonable pricing. Price analysis techniques include comparison of proposed prices to historical prices paid for a same or similar item; comparison with published price lists, offered catalog prices and prices obtained through market research for a same or similar item; comparison of proposed prices with independent Government estimate; or analysis of data other than certified cost or pricing information.

VIII. Description of the Market Research Conducted and the Results, or a Statement of the Reasons Market Research was not Conducted.

Market research was conducted during 13 Dec 2019 - 25 Jan 2020 and completed on 01 Apr 2020 in accordance with FAR Part 10.001 and 10.002. The market research techniques used are as follows:

Market research began by conducting a google search for "Passive Attack Display". When conducting a SBA database search under NIACS code 334511 and the key words: passive, attack, display, 72 business met that criteria including the incumbent IEE. The other 71 business were deemed not capable to accomplish the requirements of this effort due to proprietary data constraints. An RFI, under solicitation number FA8505-21-R-0001, was posted on 13 Dec 2019 with a 25 Jan 2020 respond no later than date. Additionally, a SSS was posted to Beta. SAM IAW DFARS PGI 206.302-1. It allowed a response time of 45 days. Three businesses responded with two being deemed technically capable but due to IEE’s decline to sell the proprietary data IEE was determined to be the only vendor capable.

The PAD Hardware is considered Commercial Component but the software developed by IEE for the USAF’s military specification changes the classification of the part from commercial to a non-commercial item.

Given IEE is the sole holder of proprietary PAD software/BIOS/firmware data, the market research concluded that IEE is the only viable option to perform the requirements of this effort.

IX. Any Other Facts Supporting the Use of Other Than Full and Open Competition.

None.

X. List of Sources, if any, That Expressed Interest in the Acquisition.

See Section VI above.

XI. A Statement of the Actions, if any, the Agency May Take to Remove or Overcome any Barriers to Competition Before Making Subsequent Acquisitions for the Supplies or Services Required.

During the initial acquisition, the complete data package was not acquired by the Government.

This proprietary data (software/BIOS/firmware) is not owned by the Government as IEE refused to sell it to the Government. In addition, the F-15 SPO sent a request to IEE to purchase the data on 26 Aug 2020 but IEE declined on 14 Sep 2020 as they consider it proprietary to their company.

In order to remove the current barriers to competition, the technical data would need to be purchased from IEE or reverse engineered. Neither of these options are considered a valid solution due to the time expected to accomplish these efforts. The end goal is to transition the Passive Attack Display Hardware Workload to Sustainment but based on previous performance concerns a period of acceptable performance is required for a minimum of 2 years so that the transition can occur. This repair contract is required so that the F-15 System Program Office can transition the sustainment of the PAD to a partnership between the OEM and 409th Sustainment after an acceptable period of performance is observed.

The plan to break barriers to competition in the prior J&A was to continue engaging the OEM on selling the TDP to the Government. That plan was executed but the OEM continues to decline to sell the TDP to the Government. Based on fulfillment of the prior plan, the current J&A does not require higher level approval in accordance with DFARS PGI 206.304(a) (S-70) (ii).

XII. Certification by the Contracting Officer.

As evidenced by my signature above, I have determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief.

XIII. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel.

As evidenced by my (our) signature(s) on the CAD, I (we) certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is my (our) responsibility, is both accurate and complete.