Redacted Justification and Approval BBN Final.pdf

J&A 25-0068

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.

Development and delivery of the GRS for the P-8A platform will be procured by other than full and open competition under 10 United States Code 3204(a)(1), only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements, as implemented by FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(ii)(A). RBBNT was awarded the original contract, N00014- 00-D-0133, DO 0015, in April 2002 for the development of the GRS. This procurement was solicited on a full and open competition basis through Office of Naval Research (ONR). Subsequent contracts for system enhancements that were awarded to RBBNT included N00421-05-C-0108 (awarded in June 2005), N00421-07-C-0014 (awarded in February 2007), N00421-10-C-0045 (awarded in June 2010), N00019-15-C-0037 (awarded in March 2015), and N00019-20-C- 0628 (awarded in June 2020). All subsequent contracts were awarded on a sole source basis.

RBBNT is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) of GRS; as the sole designer and developer of the system, it is the only company with the requisite knowledge, experience, and technical data that can meet the Government's requirement. RBBNT proprietary technical data, specifically GRS source code, is required for sustainment and improvements of the system. The Government requested to buy the Level III Technical Data Package (TDP) in August 2024. RBBNT provided a cost estimate for this data of however the Government was unable to procure this data due to budget constraints. The supplies to be provided under this contract include modifications to and continuation of the current efforts and therefore, cannot be completed by another Contractor without significant duplication of cost of per the NAVAIR Cost Analysis Department, which would be the cost to develop, test and field a replacement for the GRS. The NAVAIR Cost Analysis Department’s estimate was comprised of actuals and historical values. Based on the above, RBBNT is the only source that can provide these services without substantial duplication of costs that are not expected to be recovered through competition.

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

In accordance with DFARS PGI 206.302-1, a Sources Sought Notice was posted to the SAM.gov website on 7 July 2024 and closed 8 August 2024. Six (6) companies (SRR International, Recro Corp, DK Shins Labs, BHPE, L3 Harris and RBBNT) expressed interest and submitted capabilities statements. The Program Office assessed the capability of these respondents and determined that both L3 Harris and Raytheon BBN are technically capable of satisfying the Government requirement. However, L3 Harris is not the OEM and they do not own the source code necessary to execute GRS software updates. Without this source code, L3 would need to create their own GRS software that would be backwards compatible with existing GRS hardware and previous P-8A aircraft product releases prior to the anticipated award date to be able to begin performance upon contract award. The other respondents were incapable due to lack of experience with technical requirements and/or capability statements were not submitted as requested.

In accordance with FAR 5.201(b), a synopsis was posted on the SAM.gov website on 4 November 2024 and closed on 19 November 2024; no responses were received.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Cost.

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

J&A 25-0068

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Future Competition.

As this is a follow-on for supplies and services previously awarded on a non-competitive basis, the prior J&A (J&A_19-

480) was provided to the approval authority for review. Approval of this J&A signifies the approval authority has made the determination required by DFARS PGI 206.304(a)(S-70)(ii). The previous J&A mentioned that the Government might be able to compete this requirement if it was able to obtain the data rights or a Special License Agreement. As mentioned above in paragraph 5, the Government could not afford to procure the TDP from the Contractor. The Government was also unable to secure a Special License Agreement with the Contractor.

For the reasons set forth in paragraphs 5 and 6, NAVAIR has no plans at this time to compete future contracts for these types of supplies/services covered by this document. If another potential source emerges, NAVAIR will assess whether competition for future requirements is feasible.