A03_-_Redacted_Simplified_Acquisition_Sole_Source_Justification_over_ 150K_(16-P-0307).pdf

Control No. JA‐Adel‐16‐655

Version – November 2015

Department of Army FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Sole Source Justification and Approval for

Other than Full and Open Competition

1. Contracting Activity: Army Contracting Command – Aberdeen Proving Ground (APG), Adelphi Contracting Division, 2800 Powder Mill Road, Adelphi, MD 20783-1138

2. Description of Action: The Multi-Threat Armor Branch of the Army Research Laboratory (ARL) requests a firm-fixed-price contract with Honeywell International Inc., 15801 Woods Edge Road, Colonial Heights, Virginia, 23834. The Government projects award for September 2016 and fiscal year 2016 Army RDT&E 6.2 funds will be used. An acquisition plan is not required because this procurement is for a firm-fixed-price contract and does not meet the threshold at Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement 207.103(d)(i)(B).

3. Description of Supplies/Services: ARL requires 4100 linear yards of SpectraShield 3124 and 1640 linear yards of Spectrashield 5143 UHMWPE reinforced ballistic prelam material. Both materials need to be provided in rolls of 63” width.

Completion Date: 25 November 2016 Total Value: $

4. Authority Cited:

41 U.S.C. 1901(e)(2), implemented by FAR 13.501(a) -- Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements.

5. Reason for Authority Cited:

The US Army Research Laboratory (ARL) has been evaluating and testing various brands and grades of Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) reinforced laminate material since made available in the commercial marketplace. The UHMWPE reinforced laminate material may provide improved performance of armor systems intended for use on various vehicle platforms, constructed from current materials.

Several manufacturers create various types of UHMWPE material, which can differ from manufacturer to manufacturer or one manufacturer can carry multiple products, varying by the grade of the material. ARL must evaluate and test the latest developed materials as they become available in order to determine whether they provide equal or superior performance to what has already been evaluated and fielded. ARL intends to purchase the sheet materials, process them to standard cycles, and then test them ballistically to determine that these specific materials will function equivalently or better than those ARL has already qualified.

The latest two (2) grades of this class of materials that ARL requires have recently been commercially developed by Honeywell’s Advanced Fibers and Composites Division. The materials are proprietary and/or patented and no other source can manufacture the new material, nor do resellers exist. The material is required for testing and evaluation by

ARL in order to confirm whether these particular grades, made solely by Honeywell, are equal or better than older grades manufactured by Honeywell or various grades offered by other manufactures. These materials must also meet the military specification (MIL- DTL-32398) created by ARL. Attempting to compete this requirement would lead to unnecessary delays in research and increased costs due to manpower as market research and prior testing has determined that there is only one (1) provider of the required material and there are no other sources authorized to resell the material.

ARL acquired the first of the two required materials, Spectrashield 3124, through contract in September 2014 through a sole source award utilizing authority FAR 6.302-1 “Only One Responsible Source and No Other Supplies or Services Will Satisfy Agency Requirements”. ARL requires more of the original grade material (3124) to complete testing and continue to collect different lot samples in order to determine more accurate acceptance thresholds in the recent detailed material specification (MIL-DTL-32398).

After testing both Honeywell products as well as products supplied by other manufacturer’s, Spectrashield 3124 is the only material thus far that has met the requirements for class B, type 1 or 2, in the referenced military material specification that ARL is now using as their standard for vehicle armor components. Currently, ARL armor designs have been validated through Army testing and evaluation with specific grades of these materials. If additional samples of Spectrashield 3124 are not procured, ARL will not be able to complete their testing, resulting in approximately $100,000.00 in product and manpower costs over the past two years.

Honeywell has created an improved reinforced laminate material product (Spectrashield 5143) that they claim performs at a higher level than the Sprectrashield 3124. ARL requires a sample of this improved material to form into targets and then perform ballistics testing on to confirm the performance improvement, similar to the tests occurring on the 3124 material. If this material performs as well as the manufacturer claims, it will supercede the requirements of the current material specification (MIL-DTL- 32398).

There are currently no other products in the commercial marketplace that would meet both the military material specifications and that are more advanced in repelling ballistics than the Honeywell Spectrashield 3124 and 5143 products. Not procuring the required materials would result in negative consequences for ARL: 1) scientists would not being able to conclude their testing on the Spectrashield 3124 material, wasting Government time and funding, and 2) ARL would not have the opportunity to determine if a better, more effective vehicle armor material exists for protecting the Soldier.

6. Efforts to Obtain Competition: The Contracting Officer shall publish the notices required by FAR 5.201 and any bids or proposals received shall be considered. A synopsis notice of intent to sole source was posted to FedBizOpps on 18 August by the Contract Specialist, Allison Murray. No responses were received by the response date, 25 August 2016, nor did any vendors express interest prior to or after the synopsis response period.

Because this is a sole source action, effective competition is not applicable. The total require is under $700,000.00, so a subcontract plan is not required.

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7. Actions to Increase Competition:

ARL has evaluated all of the competitive products that are currently available in the commercial marketplace, but has yet to find one that performs better than Honeywell’s product. ARL encourages other manufacturers to provide capabilities statements and specification sheets on their products if they feel that they can meet or exceed the specifications of the referenced MIL SPEC, which has been provided within this document. If another manufacturer were able to product a similar or improved product, ARL would welcome to opportunity to procure and test it within its facilities. If ARL find something that we are interested in procuring for future armor applications, new specifications will be written to capture these new materials.

8. Market Research:

ARL has purchased all of the commercially available UHMWPE prelaminate materials available over the past ten (10) years and evaluated these in various armor assemblies.

ARL has been working with cooperative research efforts (formal and informal) involving all of the potential domestic manufacturers including BAE, Honeywell, DSM, and Dupont.

Preference had been applied to evaluating mostly domestic materials due to critical material sourcing and Berry Amendment type restrictions. The Army is keenly aware of what is commercially available as well as what is currently in development stages. In addition to working with the entire industry, ARL monitors patent literature, product catalogs and manufacturer’s internet sites. ARL is constantly communicating with all of the UHMWPE manufacturing industry and the subsequent converters that provide armor components on our vehicles. While ARL acknowledges that other products may be similar, they have not been found to meet the current material specification that ARL is utilizing currently. ARL continues to evaluate similar or intentionally modified variants of what has already been written into our material specification.

9. Interested Sources:

A Notice of Intent to Sole Source was posted to FedBizOpps on 18 August 2016, notifying the commercial market place of the Government’s intent to solicit and negotiate with Honeywell International Inc. The synopsis response period closed on 25 August 2016. No vendors responded to the notice to either challenge the sole source or to show interest.

10. Other Facts:

a. Procurement History

Contract: W911QX-14-P-0396 Award Date: 18 September 2014 Competitive Status: Sole Source, FAR Subpart 6.302-1 Authority FAR Subpart 6.302-1

The previously prepared, approved justification indicated that the material was required for testing and evaluation by ARL in order to confirm whether the particular brian.richard.scott Highlight brian.richard.scott Highlight brian.richard.scott Highlight grades, made solely by Honeywell, were equal or better than older grades manufacture by Honeywell or various grades offered by other manufactures. The Requiring activity argued that it was in the best interest of the Government to procure the required material directly from Honeywell so ARL testing remained knowledgeable on the most state-of-the-art material available. While ARL procured Honeywell materials, they also procure material from other manufacturer’s claiming to be the most innovative in areas relevant to armor. The purpose of the Honeywell material did not exclude others that also interested ARL from being acquired as well.

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