Sole Source J and A - SERE UET Lease_Redacted.pdf

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

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Department of the Air Force (AF), 92ND Contracting Squadron, 110 West Ent Street, Fairchild AFB, WA 99011-8568.

This is a new contract and the proposed acquisition will result in a Firm Fixed Price (FFP) contract. This is a follow-on contract for the existing lease, contract number FA462017CA005, which was awarded to Survival Systems USA, Inc. (SSUSA). A new contract for the lease of an over-water parachute landing simulator and Modular Egress Training Simulator (METS), which is a type of helicopter underwater egress trainer, will be awarded on a sole source basis to SSUSA. FAR subpart 13.5 procedures were used in accordance with AFFARS 5313.501 - 10 U.S.C. 2302b, Implementation of Simplified Acquisition Procedures (41 U.S.C. 1901).

Survival Systems USA Inc.

(SSUSA) 144 Tower Ave Groton, CT 06340-5326

336th Training Group (TRG) manages the U.S. Air Force Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) school located at Fairchild AFB. As a part of SERE training, 22d Training Squadron (TRS) provides water survival and parachute training for personnel from the Air Force, Army, Navy, NASA, Air Guard and Reserve, and allied countries with over 2,200 graduates each year. The training equips students with the skills and experience necessary to enable them to survive an ejection or aircraft bailout at sea. The period of performance for the proposed contract extends from 1 January 2022 through 31 December 2026. The 22 TRS utilizes a training system made up of two major components to accomplish the training course: 1) parachute drag trainer;

and 2) a 12 passenger METS capable of simulating CV-22, H-60, H-1, and C-130 airframes. The METS also includes a lift system, rescue hoist system, and environmental effects that simulate a water environment during inclement weather. The METS works with the associated environmental simulator to provide students with a realistic simulation of an open-water landing in extreme conditions. These conditions included rain, darkness, sound and light effects, and 3 foot waves, all initiated and controlled through a proprietary SSUSA control center. The total estimated lease price for the parachute drag trainer and METS with associated subsystems is

Training consists of the METS portion of the course which teaches student how to egress from an airframe that is submerged and/or inverted in a water environment. In addition to the METS portion of the course, 22 TRS uses an over-water parachute landing simulator to train students to respond to high winds dragging their parachute across the water. Both of these training scenarios can be accomplished in calm water or any combination of waves, wind, darkness, and/or rain that the instructor selects using the integrated environmental effects suite. Components of the both the parachute landing simulator and METS system are integrated the systems electronic controls and all of the equipment is currently leased from SSUSA. In addition to providing the equipment, the lease includes annual inspections, replacement parts, ongoing maintenance support, operator training, periodic software and firmware upgrades for the controllers, and materials for government personnel who operate the systems.

The 336 TRG, the parent organization for 22 TRS, completed a lease versus buy analysis using Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-94 procedures and concluded that purchasing the parachute simulator and METS presents the best value to the government. However, the Financial Management Regulation (FMR) 7000.14-R, Volume 2A dictates that equipment purchases over $250K will be considered investments and be made using Procurement appropriations. Despite programming for the purchase, more than

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

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Therefore, the only available option remaining is that the government must lease the equipment using Operation and Maintenance (O&M) appropriations to prevent mission interruption. Despite rigorous market research, SSUSA was the only firm found that could meet the government's requirement that would permit aircrew training to continue without a significant and unacceptable interruption in training.

The contract Line Item structure for this requirement includes a base year, four (4) one year option periods, and is priced per month. The following is the period of performance for each line item:

Base Period 1 Jan 22 - 31 Dec 22 Option Year 1 1 Jan 23 - 31 Dec 23 Option Year 2 1 Jan 24 - 31 Dec 24 Option Year 3 1 Jan 25 - 31 Dec 25 Option Year 4 1 Jan 26 - 31 Dec 26

FAR subpart 13.5 procedures were used in accordance with AFFARS 5313.501 - 10 U.S.C. 2302b, Implementation of Simplified Acquisition Procedures (41 U.S.C. 1901). “Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements”. Approval for sole source is in accordance with section 2304(f) of Title 10 U.S.C.

All egress training equipment associated with the METS and parachute trainer are leased from SSUSA. The annual cost of the lease is estimated to be approximately with a five year cost estimated at

. The over water post egress training system is meant to provide aircrew members with a realistic training simulation of the difficulties inherent to egressing an aircraft while over open water. Training requirements mandate that the training include egress during simulated adverse weather to provide the most realistic training simulation possible. This training must include exposure to the built-in wind, rain, and, wave effects that are created by the SSUSA environmental effects equipment suite that is already in place. The environmental effects controller uses preprogrammed scenarios to simulate wind only, nighttime only, rain only, rough water only and every combination of these effects to present the most realistic training possible in a controlled environment. It is also imperative that the training staff be able to modify or turn off these effects immediately in case of an emergency to minimize the risk to students. The only way to do this is to include the over water training scenarios as preprogrammed scenarios in the SSUSA environmental effects controller.

The SERE school leases the existing SSUSA environmental effects controller and other training equipment that allows for sequential and controlled starts to all effects with minimal operator intervention. SSUSA is the sole designer, developer, and manufacturer of the existing equipment, and owns the proprietary rights, hardware drawing, electronic schematics and/or data rights to the existing equipment. The government does not own or have any claim to these proprietary rights, hardware drawing, electronic schematics, or data rights.

This highly specialized equipment's sole purpose is to simulate egress from different military airframes in various environments ranging from calm daylight conditions to nighttime storms in the open ocean. Procuring and installing different equipment for lease would lead to both very substantial and unacceptable delays in training and unnecessary costs to the government. These delays consist of the time needed to design a viable replacement for the current equipment, modify the existing infrastructure to accept the equipment, install the equipment, and then train SERE personnel on the use and routine maintenance the newly installed equipment

Sole Source (Including Brand Name) Justification - Simplified Procedures for Certain Commercial Items

April 2 2 CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION Page 5 of 7April 2021 CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFORMATION Page 5 of 7 requires. This delay could extend for up to two years and is further explained in the paragraph below. As shown by both rigorous formal and informal market research, SSUSA is the only equipment provider that can meet the government requirement.

Furthermore, 22 TRS has determined an award to any other source would result in additional cost for the initial design/installation of new equipment which the government is not expected to be recovered through competition. Interfacing any other vendor's equipment with the installed SSUSA equipment controller would invalidate any warranty of serviceability. In addition, 22 TRS also has determined that use of any other source would increase the risk of injury to trainees due to unfamiliarity with new training equipment. Utilizing a different source would require 22 TRS to: 1) replace all existing egress training equipment; 2) close aircrew egress training for approximately 2 years so new equipment could be designed, built and installed; 3) re-write all current documentation for any newly procured equipment and 4) retrain all the SERE instructors in the safe use of the new equipment. In addition, unnecessary costs would arise from the removal of the current equipment, installation of new equipment, retraining of personnel in the use of the new equipment, and the temporary re-location of SERE training while the new equipment was designed and installed. Relocating training to other facilities is estimated to cost approximately per year based on the cost realized from moving the parachute portion of the training from Pensacola NAS to Fairchild in 2015. Use of SSUSA equipment, under the company's lease program, is critically essential to the government requirement.

The government completed formal market research to determine if a suitable replacement of the current equipment exists. Market Research indicates that there is only one U.S. company, SSUSA, which could provide an egress training system capable of meeting the government's requirement. Two overseas companies provide equipment of this nature. EDM World Class Solutions is located in Great Britain and builds equipment to order.

The lead time for new equipment is currently more than eight months which would cause an unacceptable training delay. Offshore Training Ireland, is based in the Republic of Ireland and therefore is not listed as a Qualifying Country under DFARS 252.225-7001. However, it must be noted that none of the overseas companies provides equipment compatible with the infrastructure of the existing pool at Fairchild AFB. All of the egress systems in use for the US. Army, Navy, and Marine Corp are provided by SSUSA. Informal market research is conducted, on a recurring basis, to ensure market conditions have not substantially changed.

In an attempt to promote competition a sources sought was posted to beta.SAM on 19 April 2021 with a response due date of 3 May 2021. The sources sought notice included a description of the government's requirement and a copy of the draft SOW. The government did not receive a response to the sources sought from interested vendors capable of providing the required equipment for this effort. The government intends to synopsize this action on betaSAM.gov IAW FAR 13.105.

The government considered purchasing this equipment from the incumbent or other manufacturers; however, the government is unable to secure adequate procurement appropriations (3080 or MILCON) making a purchase option impracticable.

As stated in FAR 13.106-3(a), before making award, the contracting officer must determine that the proposed price is fair and reasonable. The contracting officer will determine the price fair and reasonable using the following techniques as FAR 13.106-3(2):

- Market research

- Comparison of the proposed price with prices found reasonable on previous purchases

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- Comparison with similar items in a related industry

- Comparison to an independent government estimate; or

- Any other reasonable basis

A simplified acquisition quote request will be solicited from SSUSA for the required equipment lease, maintenance support, and technical support. The proposed prices will be evaluated and negotiated to ensure they are fair and reasonable. The contracting officer anticipates that the prices offered by the contractor will be considered fair and reasonable. The government has leased this equipment for more than 15 years and historically has been able to determine prices fair and reasonable in the past. Additionally, the contracting officer will require the submission of other than certified cost or pricing data from the offeror to the extent necessary to determine a fair and reasonable price. This data, at a minimum, will require the contractor to provide appropriate data on the prices at which the same item or similar items have previously been leased and sold, adequate for determining the reasonableness of the price. In addition to other than certified cost or pricing data, the government intends to compare the contractors proposed price to the IGE and the lease/ purchase prices found on other government contracts for the same/similar items. The IGE was based on the Lease vs. Buy Report, performed by the 336 TRG, which provides analysis for a lease and purchase option and includes the straight-line depreciation of the existing equipment. An FPDS-NG report was quarried using SSUSA DUNS which resulted in 634 contract actions. The contracts found in FPDS-NG showcase the contractor's ability to: 1) host/teach survival classes, 2) provide repair and testing for existing equipment, 3) provide new egress equipment for purchase, and 4) lease egress equipment. The government anticipates being able to compare the contractors proposed price with the IGE and prices found on other government contracts. Finally, the government intends to negotiate any sections of the quote that may offer the potential for cost savings to help ensure price reasonableness.

Formal market research was completed in April 2021 with a Sources Sought posted to beta.SAM.gov on 19 April 2021 with a response due date of 3 May 2021. The government did not receive any responses to the sources sought from interested vendors capable of providing the required equipment for this effort. A nationwide search on the Small Business Administration's (SBA) Dynamic Small Business Search (DSBS) using the NAICS code 532490 (Other Commercial and Industrial Machinery and Equipment Rental and Leasing) revealed a total of 708 small businesses. Three refined searches using NAICS code 532490 and keywords "trainer", "simulator", and "egress" independently revealed three small businesses. Using the keyword "trainer" returned zero businesses, keyword "simulator" returned Medwheels, Inc. and Transient Specialist Inc., and keyword "egress" returned the incumbent, SSUSA. Of the three companies, only SSUSA provided the type of training equipment required. Additionally, further market research, using the Internet, revealed at least two (2) overseas companies that provide egress training equipment of the type required: EDM World Class Solutions in Great Britain and Offshore Training Ireland in the Republic of Ireland; however, leasing from a different vendor would lead to substantial delays in training and unnecessary costs to the government as detailed in section V above. More importantly, the design and construction effort required to transition to equipment from another vendor would result in up to a two year delay in critical aircrew egress training. SSUSA also provides similar equipment for the Navy, Marines, and the Army to train their aircrews which provides continuity in training of aircrew and instructors. SERE instructors, as the subject matter experts, attend conferences where companies demonstrate various survival training equipment. Their experience, at these conferences, confirms the market research result that SSUSA is not only the sole U.S. based provider of comparable survival systems for lease, but that SSUSA is also the only company currently capable of meeting the current SERE requirement. The fact that SSUSA is the only source for this equipment is further supported by noting the original requirement for the METS portion of this requirement was originally competed in 2011-2012 and only one responsive offer (SSUSA) was received.

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None

See section VI above.

SERE's long term plan is to construct a standalone SERE aquatics facility in the future. A military construction (MILCON) project for this plan has already been initiated in the Program Objective Memorandum (POM) submission for Fiscal Year (FY) 2027. The new facility will mitigate the risk of having only one pool on base while concurrently providing consolidated water survival training. At that time, the sole source environment will dissolve and alternative egress simulation equipment will be researched or procured through the MILCON project. Furthermore, the government will continue to monitor the market, on a recurring basis, for potential sources of this type of training equipment. Because of the integration of the current METS and parachute drag simulator systems within the pool structure, 22 TRS will continue to need SSUSA equipment until such time as a dedicated stand-alone SERE aquatic training facility can be built. Every avenue to increase the chances of competition such as issuing a sources sought, in a time frame early enough so that companies can provide a legitimate response, will be utilized. However, until AETC is able to provide adequate procurement appropriations, 3080 or MILCON, 22 TRS will be unable to purchase a survival system and will have to continue leasing the equipment.

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.

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