JA_B-2_Nose_Wheel_Steering_Gearbox_NSN_1620-01-390-7850_Redacted.pdf

FD2020-15-01069

27 July 2015

JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION

I. CONTRACTING ACTIVITY:

DLA Aviation at Ogden

DLA-OO/AUB

Contracting Officer: Rocky Tello 6051 Gum Lane, Bldg. 1225 Hill AFB, UT 84056-5825 PR Number: FD20201501069

II. DESCRIPTION AND/OR NATURE OF THE ACTION BEING PROCESSED:

A. Upon approval to use other than full and open competition procedures, the Government will issue a new contract to procure data rights to produce component parts and entire assembly for the B-2 Nose Wheel Steering Gearbox, NSN 1620-01-390-7850, Part Number DAA3221P601- 235 or (0080-0017-2), an end item for the B-2 Aircraft. This requirement is for support of the B- 2 Landing Gear Sustainment Program and will be used by the Air Force B-2 Weapon System.

The contract will be awarded to:

Rockwell Collins, Inc.

400 Collins Rd. NE Cedar Rapids, IA 52498

CAGE: 13499

Phone: 319-295-2177

B. Contract Type and Structure: This will be a firm-fixed-price contract to procure data rights to produce B-2 Nose Wheel Steering Gearbox components and assemblies for sustainment spares.

The estimated award date is prior to 30 September 2015 with the period of performance expected up to 30 September 2016.

C. Type J&A: Individual.

III. DESCRIPTION OF SUPPLIES/SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE

AGENCY’S NEEDS:

A. The Nose Wheel Steering Gearbox assembly provides torque to the nose strut pointing it in the proper direction to allow the aircraft to steer where desired.

SUPPLY NOUN: Nose Wheel Steering Gearbox Assy

NSN: 1620-01-390-7850

PART NUMBER: 0080-0017-2 (DAA3221P601-235)

TOTAL QUANTITY: Data Rights for all Assembly Drawings and referenced data associated with the assembly

FORECASTED UNIT PRICE:

B. Total Estimated Cost:

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

AUTHORITY CITED ABOVE (APPLICABILITY OF AUTHORITY):

A. The above authority was selected because the requirement is for the data rights to manufacture the B-2 Nose Wheel Steering Gearbox assembly whose design is currently owned by Rockwell Collins Corporation. As per the 417 SCMS/GUMB Equipment Specialist and the 417 SCMS/GUEA Engineer, the design of the B-2 Nose Wheel Steering Gearbox assembly is specifically manufactured for the B-2 aircraft’s size, special geometry and torque requirements, with the drawings and data created by Kaiser Electro Precision’s own expense, but currently owned by Rockwell Collins Corporation.

Rockwell Collins acquired Kaiser Electro Precision in 2000 and became owner or the data rights as part of that deal. As a result, the Government does not own the data rights and required drawings to the B-2 Nose Wheel Steering Gearbox. Since the drawings and data required to manufacture the B-2 Nose Wheel Steering Gearbox are currently proprietary to Rockwell Collins Corporation, interested vendors would be required to invest their time, funding, and manpower required for reverse engineering and follow the government qualification requirements and processes needed to become a qualified source to manufacture the entire B-2 Nose Wheel Steering Gearbox assembly.

Consequently, the 417 SCMS/GUMB states that based on a recent basis of estimate (BOE) dated 28 July 2015, award to any other source would result in a $6,935,874.00 cost to the Government to reverse engineer the part that is not expected to be recovered through competition.

B. Rockwell Collins Corporation is the sole owner of the data rights and drawings with design control, authorization and documentation to manufacture for procurement the B-2 Nose Wheel Steering Gearbox assembly. The Air Force possesses a minimal amount of intellectual property, which only allows repair and overhaul, not manufacture. This intellectual property is written into the USAF repair manuals. As of 24 July 2015, the AF does not possess the OEM data licensing rights and drawings required to support a competitive acquisition buy for the B-2 Nose Wheel Steering Gearbox assembly. An attempt to obtain top level preliminary drawings, unlimited license right, government purpose rights, form, fit and function rights, Operations and Maintenance and Installation data to allow full and open competition from Rockwell Collins Corporation was initiated on 23 Oct14 by the 417 SCMS/GUMB Program Manager. Rockwell Collins Corporation responded that they were interested in leasing the data rights to the AF. This was due to a consolidation of capabilities at Rockwell Collins, (RC) where they sold off their mechanical systems division in order to focus on their electronic cockpit prime capabilities. This resulted in a purging of the capabilities necessary to manufacture any of the gearbox related components, RC determined it was not in their best interest to try and provide these items and offered a license of their technical data. As a result this procurement effort is underway.

C. The 417 SCMS believes that award to any other source would result in substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition in fulfilling the AF requirements. The 417 SCMS/GUEA Engineer has determined that reverse engineering costs are estimated at as documented in the Basis of Estimate (BOE). Accordingly, Rockwell Collins is the only source capable of providing the data described in Section III without a costly reengineering effort.

Therefore, an Acquisition Method code (AMC)/Acquisition Method Suffix Code (AMSC) of 3/H has been assigned and approved by the OO-ALC Breakout Program.

VI. DESCRIPTION OR EFFORTS MADE TO INSURE THAT OFFERS ARE

SOLICITED FROM AS MANY POTENTIAL SOURCES AS DEEMED PRACTICABLE:

A. A combined Request for Information and Sources Sought Synopsis (RFI/SSS) was posted on FBO.gov on 21 July 2015 to provide industry and opportunity to inform the government of any interest in, or the capability to manufacture subject item. The RFI/SSS closed on 4 August 2015 and no response from industry was received by the contracting office.

B. This requirement was also synopsized in FedBizOpps, (FBO.gov), as a notice of contract action IAW FAR 5.201. If other sources express interest as a result of this synopsis or other action, they will be listed in the official contract file.

C. Other actions: None.

D. Qualifying Country Sources: None.

VII. DETERMINATION BY THE GOVERNMENT THAT THE ANTICIPATED

COST TO THE GOVERNMENT WILL BE FAIR AND REASONABLE:

The following steps will be taken to ensure that the anticipated cost of this acquisition will be fair and reasonable. The Contracting Officer will comply with the procedures and criteria contained in Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) under Part 30 - Cost Accounting Standards, Part 31 - Contract Cost Principles and Procedures, Subparts 15.4 - Contract Pricing; to include technical evaluations and audits, as appropriate. Additional steps to ensure price reasonableness will be under the guidance of the Contract Pricing Reference Guides, jointly developed by the Federal Acquisition Institute and the Air Force Institute of Technology. The Contracting Officer will obtain certified cost and pricing data IAW FAR Subpart 15.403, when required. The final step is to include the method for determining that the price is fair and reasonable in a Price Negotiation Memorandum (PNM). This detailed documentation and justification of price reasonableness will be documented in the official PNM, to be prepared upon completion of negotiations, which will be placed in the official Procurement/Contract File.

VIII. DESCRIPTION OF MARKET RESEARCH CONDUCTED AND THE RESULTS,

OR A STATEMENT OF THE REASONS MARKET RESEARCH WAS NOT

CONDUCTED:

A. The Market Research was accomplished by the B-2 IPT team in July 2015 and consisted of reviewing Rockwell Collins Corporation’s proprietary data rights, AF Technical Orders and Part Drawings for this item and researching the procurement history of the B-2 Nose Wheel Steering Gearbox Assy.

B. The IPT contacted knowledgeable people within government and reviewed Rockwell Collins Corporation’s proprietary data rights for this item. The IPT Team of knowledgeable personnel consisted of Mr. Jeff Watterson (Program Manager), Ms. Karen Trina (Landing Gear Bomber Chief), Mr. Robert Young (Engineer), Mr. George Ray (Equipment Specialist) and Mr. Rex Stratton (Item Management Specialist).

C. Past procurements of this item were executed through Air Force contracting officials, as follows:

Contract AAVFAS7WADK; Contractor: Kaiser Electro Precision; Awd DT: 28 Mar 1990

D. Market Research was accomplished to determine whether there are suitable parts that could be used as a replacement for the current Nose Wheel Steering Gearbox Assy. Within the Government and aerospace industry, the B-2 Nose Wheel Steering Gearbox Assy and components are unique parts in size, geometry, torque rating, form and fit and no commercially available items can be used as replacement. This gearbox was designed as a one of a kind item to fit in the unique nose wheel well of the B-2 Aircraft. There are similar functioning parts, but nothing that will mate up with the existing interfaces or requirements of the B-2 A/C. There are two choices for replacement, obtain the data from Rockwell Collins, or reengineer the entire component at considerable cost and time delay.

E. As a result of the market research conducted the IPT has concluded with a high degree of confidence that no alternate source, equipment, or substitute is available to fill the government’s needs and competition does not exist for this item. If the buyer discovers information to the contrary, it will be furnished to the PR initiator for appropriate action.

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 ACTION, IF ANY, THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO

REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS TO COMPETITION BEFORE MAKING

SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITION FOR THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUESTED:

This action will be synopsized in FedBizOpps as a notice of contract action in accordance with FAR 5.201. If other sources express interest as a result of this synopsis or other action, they will be listed in the official contract file and will be given an opportunity to prove they have access to the necessary data and the ability to manufacture this part. The System Engineer will review requests from contractors interested in becoming a qualified source and provide any available information to conduct self funded reverse engineering. New potential sources must be approved by the System Engineer prior to contract award.

XII. CONTRACTING OFFICER’S CERTIFICATION:

The Contracting Officer’s signature on the Coordination and Approval Document evidences that he/she has determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of his/her knowledge and belief (FAR 6.303-2(a)(12)).

XIII. TECHNICAL REQUIREMENTS PERSONNEL CERTIFICATION:

As evidenced by their signatures on the Coordination and Approval Document, the technical and/or requirements personnel have certified that any supporting data contained herein, which is their responsibility, is both accurate and complete (FAR 6.303-2(c)).