Joint Battle Command – Platform (JBC-P) Mounted Family of Computer Systems (MFoCS) procurement

The procurement of the Joint Battle Command – Platform (JBC-P) Mounted Family Computer Systems (MFoCS) equipment; QTY 542 EA Processor Units of NSN 7021-01-622-8908 was performed on an other than full and open competition basis pursuant to the authority of 10 United States Code 2304c(b)(2) as implemented by Federal Acquisition Regulation 16.505(b)(2)(i)(B), "Only one awardee is capable of providing the supplies or services required at the level of quality required because the supplies or services are unique or highly specialized."

Reason: The OEM, DRS Network & Imaging Systems, LLC, 100 N. Babcock Street, Melbourne, Florida 32935 owns the technical data for the subject PU (NSN: 7021-01-622-8908, p/n: 9800-96000-5001). DRS is the only source that produces MFoCS equipment. No other source possesses the knowledge of the design of MFoCS, which is necessary to provide the required product configuration and support to the Government. A Technical Data Package (TDP) to facilitate competition was not bought at the time of initial procurement by the PM in 2013 and did not pass to CECOM as the system transitioned to sustainment. The Government does not own the rights to the drawings or the software/hardware associated with the MFoCS. The Government requested to purchase these rights in April 2021 but DRS was not willing to sell the data rights associated with these products.

The subject PU is a critical component of a parent system, and therefore it is vital that an exact part be used to ensure full integration and mission readiness. There are highly ruggedized systems in the market similar to MFoCS. These non-OEM systems will not communicate to the same degree, if at all, as the existing software in currently fielded system and ruggedizing parameters as the current MFoCS system, making it unusable in the environment and by the system. the MFoCS LRU items cannot be broken down into procurable subcomponents without significant integration and compatibility testing required to ensure the safety of Warfighters and Army Users. It is not possible for a system to function properly if any of the parts don’t meet the same parameters and have incompatible encryption and software. Trying to input products not tested and cleared for the MFoCS system will not only make MFoCS unusable but would cripple the JBC-P. As a result, these companies would have to, at best, reverse engineer the MFoCS Block I PU, perform Test and Inspect (T&I), and perform First Article Testing (FAT) in order to ensure operability, reliability, and compatibility of their PU with the rest of the MFoCS Block I equipment. Reverse engineering is not a viable alternative at this time. The time and effort to reverse engineer the components would require engineering support and additional time. The technical experts recently estimated significant duplication in excess of $13,400,000 and a minimum of two (2) years development time would be required to qualify any other PU for use with the MFOCS system. This figure is based off an analysis that broke down the time and cost for the planning, designing, development, testing and sustainment (all the stages of a product lifecycle) of the MFOCS if the Government were to seek an alternative source.

Awarded contract NNG15SE05B to DRS Network & Imaging Systems, LLC for 5289920.00 on 2021-05-24.