Redacted_JA_for_ARSS_Redacted.pdf

Control No: HNC-15-16450

Source Selection Information -- See FAR 2.101 and 3.104 is costly and lengthy to create new configurations for standard as well as rapid deployments estimated at approx additional centralized and additional government labor hours/week.

Attempting to support many manufacturer LMR radios is estimated to result in increased expenditures in many areas as itemized below:

Estimated Non Sole Source LMR/HF additional annual costs

Central Support Labor increase Programming and Configuration Management Initial and continued training/manufacturer cert.

Repair Costs Additional charges applied from local shops Increased travel charges to the site

Government Radio Support staff Programming and Configuration Management Initial and continued training/manufacturer cert.

Customer Training of users Increased calls/dispatch due to complexity

Total Estimate Increased Annual Costs

Under the centralized labor portion of this requirement (outside the scope of this J&A), the contractor shall maintain program configuration files for reuse. The reuse of program configuration files reduces the amount of time required to program a radio system.

Standardization on one brand of radios will permit the reuse of these files. Allowing other brands of radios will require program configuration files for each additional brand and type of radio system and will require the vendor to program additional configuration files to ensure that the equipment can interface with existing equipment. All proposed radio equipment must interface and be compatible with the already deployed Motorola system.

b. The USACE Enterprise has installed Motorola brand equipment as the LMR adopted standard since 2006 for the P25 USACE LMR system as a result of the A-76 ACE-IT re-organization and contracts with the selected service provider. The Government determines a multi-vendor radio system would not be cost effective as it would also increase O&M costs (two or more sets of hardware, software, maintenance and administrative) as detailed above in Section a. USACE now has approximately % Motorola brand equipment after an estimated spent since 2008. Per DoD regulations and re-iterated in ER 25-1-111, all equipment must be P25 compliant and J/F12 certified. USACE presently has over pieces of Motorola equipment that meets these requirements. Additionally, all radio equipment must be on the USACE Approved Product

List (APL) IAW USACE Memorandum, Subj: ACE-IT Implementation Policy Memorandum No. 014, Approved Product List (APL), dated: 20 March 2015. Currently, only Motorola LMRs, repeaters, and ancillary equipment are listed on the USACE APL.

c. To use radios other than those manufactured by Motorola (that are not DoD Certified) would require undertaking a lengthy (approximately one year) and costly certification process (approximately GS-12 labor hours per each device or per device) of its supporting hardware and software. Presently the Motorola radios are configured by the use of Motorola Solutions Astro 25, a specialized software application which has two enterprise Army Certificates of Networthiness (CoN) (CERT201312126, CERT201312127); meaning it has been tested for security vulnerabilities and operational capabilities by Army. This permits radios to be programmed utilizing customized pre-configured templates to change/add/delete talk groups, users, frequencies, assign radio ID’s and perform firmware updates. The Astro 25 software application is the most widely deployed P25 solution in the world and allows for a direct interface with local first responders across the United States. Further, Motorola systems comply with Army Regulation 25-13, Telecommunications and Unified Capabilities, 3-10(a)5 which states that all non-tactical land mobile radio systems must comply with NTIA narrowband mandate, APCO P24, and will support Type 3 encryption devices.

d. The selected ARSS vendor shall procure replacement equipment and additional spares as necessary to provide the necessary radio capacity within the USACE P25 LMR Communication system. During an emergency event, USACE radio users may be required to make contact with emergency dispatch without a wait time, often hampered by lack of channel capacity. The equipment being procured provides the necessary number of channels to meet these capacity requirements.

e. New and refreshed Motorola equipment is continually needed to support the USACE Deployable Tactical Operations System (DTOS) teams as they expedite tactical and communications platforms for first responders, and Command and Control for disaster operations. The first responders’ personnel are trained and have many years of experience with the Motorola product lines. Additionally, in order to minimize service interruptions to USACE, they may utilize spare radio equipment and install that equipment in the Rapid Response Vehicles (RRVs) without increased risk of compatibility and functionality issues within their operations. The use of non-Motorola equipment would require individuals to be trained on more than one radio system, the RRV fleet, and would require a separate infrastructure to support non- Motorola radios. Radio systems from different manufacturers are not always interchangeable and the existing Motorola spare radio equipment could not be used with equipment from other vendors. The use of multiple radio systems and infrastructure could result in communication delays when responding to an emergency and ultimately result in the loss of life.

f. After research in FY14, other manufacturers were found to have P25 LMR capable radios;

however they are not compatible with the existing USACE partners in which the infrastructure shares trunking (allows two-way communication between entities with multiple channels on a single frequency to permit more use of the frequency), such as state governments due to their use of Motorola zone controllers (i.e. Michigan, North Carolina, Alabama (County systems), Arkansas, Texas, etc.). The proprietary zone controllers provide full functionality and have the ability to interface with Motorola based equipment to remotely configure, manage, and interconnect Motorola P25 LMR radios and subsystems, employing proprietary configurations and software. The use of other brands would interfere with USACE’s ability to interface with its partners for their daily needs or in the case of a FEMA event. The state and local systems that USACE shares with the zone controllers noted above are Motorola Trunking Systems.

g. Radio equipment is required to be fixed by vendor-authorized dealers. In the event spare parts are not on-hand, Motorola is a dominant brand that has authorized shops accessible within one day to every USACE site, and provides services globally (i.e. outside of the continental United States [OCONUS])as specified in the ARSS Performance Work Statement (PWS). Using radio equipment brands other than those manufactured by Motorola could result in costly delays, significant safety issues, and impact the USACE missions. Other brands would potentially increase the number of days for onsite repairs from one business day to business days depending on location, which would have the potential of incurring overnight stays for repair personnel traveling greater distances as well as various other financial impacts. Since repair time is longer, the USACE customer will be without operational equipment for a longer period of time, thereby jeopardizing the missions. In the event of an emergency, declared or otherwise, the inability to use existing infrastructure would reduce USACE’s ability to communicate with team members, emergency responders, FEMA personnel, etc. all of which have concerns of life, health and safety impacts. Having to support and provide a mixture of manufacturer radios would require duplication of programming and preparation efforts as well as adding confusion to responders.

For example, if 40 radios are to be provided for an emergency and they are provided from four separate manufacturers (ten each), then four separate programming templates would need to be created and loaded into the radios, instructions would then need to be provided with regard to how to operate/train how to use four different types of radios. Additional desk chargers would need to be ordered and provided (being that radios only fit into their charger), and questions would need to be fielded by repair or engineering SMEs that would need to be extremely informed on all models. This one example of 40 radios is estimated to cost an additional in centralized labor and for additional government SME labor needed to draft and coordinate SOW, program/install, distribute, and provide instructions to operate.

Additionally, the end result would still be rated poorly by the customer as there would be added complexity and confusion with regard to operation of equipment. Repairs on some of the units during the emergency will also be delayed due to increased travel distance needed due to other LMR manufacturers not having local certified repair facilities throughout the U.S. near USACE sites.

MICOM

a. MICOM is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for the existing USACE Fixed and Mobile HF radio communication system containing approximately pieces of proprietary equipment totaling in capital infrastructure costs. To maintain continuity of the USACE HFEN mission, proprietary MICOM HF brand name equipment is required. Adding equipment from other manufacturers will introduce additional operational and maintenance requirements for the staff supporting the equipment and will increase ACE-IT’s engineering administrative burdens in excess of (approximately GS-12 labor hours per each device or per device) for the first five years. Other manufacturer’s components would require extensive testing in order to determine if they meet the current ACE-IT engineered standards and further, interface with the ancillary items used to comply with the Privacy Act of 1974 (5 U.S.C.

§ 522a (b)) – namely the Vocoder privacy adapters, compatible with the units now in use by FEMA. The content of communications between USACE and FEMA is unclassified, but sensitive, and often falls under the Privacy Act. All proposed HF radio equipment is required to interface and be compatible with the already deployed USACE HFEN communications system.

Testing and approval of equipment to obtain a DoD certification requires approximately one year. Government Radio SMEs labor portion to support Army for this approval requires approx forty hours per device.

b. MICOM HF equipment and components meet or exceed NTIA specifications and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) Parts 15, 80 and 90. In addition, the Joint Interoperability Test Command (JITC) at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, conducts a program to perform standards conformance testing of High Frequency (HF) radio systems and data modems. MICOM HF equipment is fully compliant with Federal Standard (FED-STD) 1045 and Military Standard (MIL STD) 188/141B military certification performance standards. The USACE Operation Center (UOC) has the MOBAT MICOM2-E 500-Watt High Frequency Single-Side Band, Automatic Link Establishment (HF-SSB/ALE) radio. There are a number of lower power versions of these radio systems throughout the U.S., however, the nature of this station, its’ configuration and the type of different accessories attached make this station/system unique.

c. Through the NRP, FEMA tasks the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers with performing disaster relief duties as ESF#3. To execute these responsibilities, USACE must be able to maintain constant communications with the DTOS teams and Planning Response Team(s) (PRT), and in some cases the only available media to accomplish this is HF radio. During and after natural disasters (i.e. events) such as hurricanes, the DTOS teams rely heavily on high frequency (HF) radio communications to coordinate relief activities. This is because HF communications will work point-to-point over hundreds of miles without the tall antenna towers and other infrastructure normally destroyed in hurricanes. These support team personnel are trained and have many years of experience with the MICOM product lines. To this end, MICOM new and refresh equipment is continually needed. The use of other brands could interfere with USACE’s ability to interface with its teams and partners in the case of a FEMA event unless further trained in a new brand of HF product line.

d. MICOM HF radio equipment is required to be fixed by vendor-authorized dealers. HF radios are highly complex and their repair is beyond the skillset of most communication stores today.

Local shops cater to very high and ultra high frequency (VHF/UHF) radios that are used in industries (i.e. fire, police, taxi, utility companies, etc). HF requires special knowledge and equipment to perform the test to ensure that the NTIA standards are met. Using HF equipment and components other than those manufactured by MICOM would result in costly delays in meeting the DoD compliance and impact the USACE NRP mission. The DoD certification process for HF radio systems typically takes 12 months. The use of non-MICOM HF radio equipment would require certification prior to being ordered and installed within USACE. The open market. This does not satisfy the Government’s goal to implement an enterprise-wide solution for all of USACE, nor would it enable the Government to reduce costs by leveraging economies of scale. Furthermore, some of the Government’s goals with this acquisition are to strengthen and standardize radio equipment and systems’ performance, support, and management across the enterprise; promote spectrum sharing, efficiency, and interoperability; and provide centralized configuration management support for radio, satellites and all associated radio equipment. Dealing with various prime vendors across multiple contracts is not conducive to these objectives.

NASA SEWP V – On 6 May 2015, HNC and ACE-IT technical personnel reviewed the available information concerning NASA SEWP V. Of the small businesses available, none of them have NAICS code or any other radio related NAICS codes listed as their primary business code. Additionally, only has information indicating that they are capable of providing radio hardware and performing radio related services. Since there is only one vendor in the pool who possesses the required capability, there would be no competition, and this strategic source is not viable.

Based upon this research, and the fact none of the available strategic sources are viable, it is in the best interest of the Government to compete this ARSS acquisition via open market, 100% small business set aside. This competition will assist in obtaining a fair and reasonable price, while meeting the USACE small business goals for FY15.

ACE-IT did not conduct extensive market research on the widespread procurement of radios, repeaters, and ancillary items other than those compatible with the Motorola P25 LMR communications system and MICOM HF bases, transportable radios, and ancillary items. The justification for Motorola and MICOM is based on supportability requirements. The supportability requirements and ability of non Motorola and MICOM radio systems and components to interface with the current USACE enterprise radio infrastructure was reviewed by Subject Matter Expert's in ACE-IT's Radio Systems Design Branch in October 2014. Further, radio systems (bases, radios, repeaters, and ancillary equipment) must be on the USACE APL.

Currently, only Motorola LMR systems (radios, repeaters, ancillary equipment, etc) and MICOM HF systems (i.e. bases, radios, ancillary items, etc) are listed on the USACE APL.

Market Research conducted in October 2014 by the ACE-IT Radio System Design Branch found that Motorola LMR systems and MICOM HF radio systems can be procured through various vendors and the purchase of this brand name equipment is not limited solely to one vendor despite each system having only a single manufacturer. The ARSS contractor will be responsible for procuring the brand name equipment as part of the ARSS contract.

Motorola

Motorola is the USACE enterprise standard not only because it technically meets USACE's needs but because Motorola has authorized service centers located throughout the United States.

Currently, USACE has over radios, most of them are located in remote areas. Motorola Service Center personnel can reach these sites within a day. Other manufacturers, such as and , do not have this capability. In order not to compromise life and safety, radio

a. Procurement history.

(1) Contract numbers and dates of the last several awards:

- Engineer Research Development Center (ERDC) Contracting Office (ECO) awarded a hybrid Fixed-Price/Cost Plus Award Fee (CPAF) type Single Award Task Order Contract (SATOC), W91WMC-07-D-0001, to Lockheed Martin (LM) for . Contract W91WMC-07-D-0001 was awarded on 18 April 2007 and expired on 30 September 2013.

- Following the expiration of contract W91WMC-07-D-0001, the individual districts within USACE have fulfilled their radio related requirements through Department of Interior contract F11PC00161 with Tribalco. Neither ACE-IT nor HNC has any visibility concerning the award numbers, dates, or values for these individual orders.

(2) Competitive status of these actions (competitive, sole source, limited source, etc):

Contract W91WMC-07-D-0001 was competed on a full and open basis with brand name restrictions.

(3) Authority previously used for less than full and open competition: The previous contract contained brand name restrictions in accordance with FAR 16.505(a)(4)(i) “Items Peculiar to One Manufacturer.”

(4) If a justification was prepared to support the procurement made before this one, a summary of the contents of paragraph 7 of the justification for that procurement and an explanation of the results: Paragraph 7 indicated that the action would be competed to the fullest extent possible within the constraints of the necessary brand name restrictions. The nature of these restrictions were the same as the restrictions found within this justification; the need for these restrictions are still in effect and unchanged. The contract was ultimately awarded to Lockheed Martin on a competitive basis.

(5) If any prior award was accomplished by full and open competition, a detailed explanation of the changed circumstances: N/A

(6) An explanation of any unusual patterns which may be revealed by the history, e.g., several consecutive, urgent buys: There are no unusual patterns revealed by this acquisition’s procurement history.

(7) If a justification was prepared to support the procurement made before this one, briefly describe the circumstances justifying the buy and whether there have been any significant changes: The previous justification contained brand name restrictions virtually identical to the ones found in this justification. The need for these restrictions is still in effect and unchanged.

b. Acquisition data availability. To maintain continuity of the mission at USACE, proprietary Motorola and MICOM brand name equipment is required; adding equipment from other manufacturers will introduce additional operational and maintenance requirements for the staff supporting the equipment and increasing the ACE-IT engineering administrative burden, estimated to be in excess of for first five years. Radio equipment, accessories, parts, software and ancillary equipment are not interchangeable across radio manufacturers and often not across models within a specific manufacturer. The programming and configuration process is costly and lengthy to create new configurations for standard as well as rapid deployments estimated at approx additional centralized and additional government labor hours/week; a complete breakdown for these estimates is provided in section 5 of this justification. All proposed radio equipment is required to interface and be compatible with the already deployed Motorola and MICOM systems in order to ensure communication with Federal, state, and local emergency response personnel. For this reason, technical data packages, specifications, engineering descriptions, statements of work or purchase descriptions suitable for full and open competition are not available and cannot be developed for this acquisition.

c. Unusual and compelling urgency: N/A

d. Subcontracting competition. This acquisition will be set-aside in its entirety for small business firms. Accordingly, no subcontracting plans will be required.