WP08_A26_JA Final_29Nov2023 Redacted_Redacted.pdf

J&A Number: CR-23126

4. Statutory Authority Permitting Other Than Full and Open Competition

10 USC 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

The ASE modulators are specialized modulating high voltage power supplies which are designed to pulse high voltage for Teledyne model MTZ-3023 and MEC-3090 Traveling Wave Tube (TWT) amplifiers. The ASE modulators are used in the production of AEGIS 10K TWTs and used as driver power supplies for the production of AEGIS Crossed-Field Amplifiers (CFAs).

The ASE modulators are fielded in the NSWC Crane microwave tube lab and used for the testing and support of the AEGIS 10K TWT program and the AEGIS CFA program. ASE modulators are provided as Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) to Teledyne MEC (Rancho Cordova, CA) in support of 10k TWT, Stellant (Williamsport, PA) in support CFAs, and CPI (Beverly, MA) in support of CFAs.

The Government currently has the ASE Model 177 TWT modulators in use at NSWC Crane and the vendor sites. In addition, the Government owns $82K in total sparing with components plus an additional 8 spare high voltage power supplies at $760K total to support the ASE modulators.

These spares include circuit cards and sub-assemblies that will only work in the Model 177 and not in another vendor's modulator. The Model 177 design is proprietary to ASE. As of 2 October 2023, ASE is not willing to sell the data rights to the Government or any other party.

To develop a source other than ASE would result in substantial duplication of costs and unacceptable delays in fulfilling Navy requirements. The US Navy has invested $1.3M through several procurement actions (N00164-05-P-0431, N00164-05-P-1544, N00164-07-P-0108, N00164-10-C-GR87, and N00164-13-P-0620) to develop and acquire these modulators. These costs would not be recouped by developing another source. Also, to develop another source would result in an estimated delay of 2.5 years to MWT production due to the down time of these modulators. These modulators are complex and a new source would have to develop the expertise to troubleshoot the failures causing the previously mentioned delays. A delay to the production line of the MWTs would result in a work stoppage at the contractors’ facilities.

The additional time required if a different source would be selected would result in up to a 2.5 year delay, require additional test time to run the correlation tests, require the high voltage shop to get familiar with the new modulator, and to validate the testing. The total investment to replace ASE spares and additional costs (re-design, build, validation, and qualification) that would be incurred by the Government should another source be selected is a minimum of $639,000.

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

Market research is conducted on a continuous basis by the requiring technical activity (RTA), including contacting knowledgeable individuals in the Government and industry, reviewing previous procurements and in-house contracts, product catalog and literature reviews, and Internet searches. The requiring technical activity maintains a close working relationship with industry experts as well. Based on this background and working relationship with industry, it is

J&A Number: CR-23126 the technical representatives’ professional judgement that there is no known source other than ASE capable of satisfying the Government’s current requirements under the circumstances.

Many companies produce similar modulators, but their parts, repair-ability, maintenance equipment, and expertise is unique to their own product lines. Substantial rework to the modulators would be required to develop interchangeability.

A Sources Sought was posted to the Government-wide Point of Entry (GPE) on 21 February 2023, in accordance with Defense Acquisition Regulations Supplement (DFARS) PGI 206.302- 1(d). The Sources Sought closed on 03/07/2023 with no responses or inquiries received.

In accordance with DFARS 205.205-71, the proposed contract was synopsized on the Government Point of Entry (GPE), SAM.gov, website on 21 February 2023. To date, no interested parties have expressed interest or provided feedback concerning this requirement.

There is one known source for this requirement, ASE. Any response received will be evaluated to determine whether to conduct a competitive procurement.

Market research verifies that it is not practical for the reasons discussed in Section 5 to utilize any vendor other than ASE.

7. Determination of Fair and Reasonable Costs

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

8. Actions to Remove Barriers to Competition

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

As this is a follow-on for supplies previously awarded on a non-competitive basis, in accordance with DFARS PGI 206.304(a)(S-70)(i), the prior J&A will be provided to the approval authority for review. Approval of this J&A will signify the approval authority has made the determination required by DFARS PGI 206.304(a)(S-70)(ii).

The previous J&A stated, “NSWC Crane has no plans at this time to compete future contracts for the types of supplies/services covered by this document. If another potential source emerges, NSWC Crane will assess whether competition for future requirements is feasible”.