Inactive

I. Nature and/or description of the action being approved. This document supports a sole source contract with Lockheed Martin Space Mission Systems (hereinafter referred to as Contractor, Lockheed Mar... I. Nature and/or description of the action being approved. This document supports a sole source contract with Lockheed Martin Space Mission Systems (hereinafter referred to as Contractor, Lockheed Martin, LM or Incumbent) for the MARK IV-B program. MARK IV-B is the common name for the Meteorological Data Station (MOS), AN/UMQ-13. AN/UMQ-13 is the Army/Navy identifier for the MOS. This contract will allow for uninterrupted operation of the MARK IV-B government test bed and training suite and the permanent ground sites that ingest, process, store, and disseminate critical Meteorological Satellite (METSATI and other sensor data on a 24/7 basis. This effort includes Firm Fixed Price (FFP) Contract Line Item Numbers (CLINs) for the sustainment portion of the contract and Cost Plus Fixed Fee (CPFF) CLINs for a series of 3080/3085 funded projects. The estimated cost of this instant action is . Il. Description of supplies/services required to meet agency needs. This J&A approves a 7-year contract. It covers the supplies/services described below. The Government continues to have a need for the critical 24/7 METSAT data processed and disseminated by the MARK IV-B system. A lack of availability of this system would leave the Government without current weather data for a significant period of time and be detrimental to the DoD's tactical and strategic military operations around the world. Weather forecasting isa vital mission to ensure the safety of our warfighters and equipment. While there are other reference options for forecasters in the United States, warfighter forecasters in OCONUS locations rely heavily on the MARK IV-B program for forecasting purposes. A. Approximately staff-hours will be acquired each year for operations and maintenance support on the test bed/training suite located at the Contractor's facility and nine worldwide operational sites. The Contractor will provide program, risk, safety, and quality management; systems engineering; hardware and software maintenance; baseline configuration and data management; technical order management; planning, design, test, and evaluation for all system baseline upgrades driven by new space sensors and programmed system upgrades; programmed depot maintenance; emergency depot level maintenance; operator and maintainer training; system anomaly tracking, investigation and resolution; system trending analysis; equipment and software license obsolescence management; and processing of Time Compliance Network Orders for cybersecurity activities for network certification and accreditation. This portion of the effort will be firm fixed price. 3410 appropriations will fund the sustainment portion of this effort as described in this paragraph. B. Staff hours will vary greatly per fiscal year for projects, depending on funding and mission needs. Due to the dynamic nature of the program, each project is executed as an individual contract modification in accordance with the terms and conditions of the contract and are processed on an as-required basis. One of the core requirements for the MARK IV-B system is to sustain an enduring METSAT ingest, processing, and dissemination capability for the Department of Defense (DoD). The MARK IV-B system must keep current with the latest METSAT sensors, software data formats, higher data rates, and computer processing requirements as the latest series of satellites are launched. Beginning in 2016, newer satellites have been launched that have much larger data streams, ground station data storage, and processing requirements. These newer satellites represent the latest iteration put into orbit that require hardware/software/firmware adjustments to deliver the required capability. These projects may include, but are not limited to: 1. Amend ground systems and sub-systems with associated hardware/software component refurbishment, set-up, tear-down, relocate, and/or redesign; 2. Maintain/improve/modify the MARK IV-8 Forecaster Viewer software applications and/or associated software applications to keep the capability relevant; 3. Maintain, update, and upgrade ingest and data servers in accordance with authorized projects; 4. Update the software, hardware and firmware baselines to maintain the capability to ingest evolving state-of-the art weather satellite sensor data formats as required by HQ SpOC/DCG-O/S3/6SE on a continuous basis; 5. Add, remove (including decommissioning) or update MARK IV-8 sites and mission essential equipment, as required by HQ SpOC/DCG-O/S3/6SE; 6. Update sites to meet or maintain Air Force/Space Force guidance regarding cybersecurity requirements including moving server routing and any associated information technology system to the "de-militarized zone" at each site or to modify the systems to meet AF Cybersecurity requirements associated with Risk Management Framework; And 7. Resolve frequency spectrum sell-off issues and interference that impact the MARK IV-B system. C. Contract Line Items {CLINs) for this contract will include Sustainment under FFP, Travel & Materials under Cost Reimbursement, a Data CUN that will be Not Separately Priced, and reserved CLINs for projects as needed. The project CLINs will primarily be CPFF, however alternate funding types and CLINS may be necessary. The PoP is for one base year and 6 option years. III. Demonstration that the contractor's unique qualifications or the nature of the acquisition requires use of the authority cited above. A. Continued Performance of Highly Specialized Services: 1. The MARK IV-B system is highly specialized. The system is specifically designed to meet DoD, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and multiple international partner weather satellite data ingest, processing, and distribution requirements as defined for the program by Space Operations Command. The sustainment of the system covered under this justification is dependent upon the single highly specialized test bed and training suite located at the Contractor facility in Pennsylvania. The MARK IV-B software, viewer application and ground system are all parts of a unique and technically complex system that is modern, modular, scalable, and networked. 2. Today, the MARK IV-B program is comprised of nine permanent ground sites located worldwide and which operate 24/7 by ingesting, processing, and disseminating METSAT data. The Contractor maintains a single test bed and training suite that mimics the operational baseline and is located within their facility at King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. The Contractor utilizes the test bed to perform day-to-day sustainment support for each of the nine operational sites. The current sustainment support contract with Lockheed Martin, FA8823-17-C-0003, expires 31 Jan 2025. 3. The operational sites are primarily comprised of a series of ground antennas that capture Polar and Geo METSAT data in the X, L, and S bands. Some of the antennas are housed in antenna radomes, and/or are situated on raised platforms to mitigate radio frequency obstruction. All of the operational sites have a fixed facility with heating and air conditioning capabilities that house the data processing equipment racks that are comprised of computer servers, switches, crypto equipment, tools and some minor spare parts. 4. Over three decades ago, the MARK IV-B ground stations were originally designed to support a single weather satellite constellation,the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program {DMSP). Over the years, the Air Force through the Air Force Weather Agency {now ACC/A5W) expanded the capability of the MARK IV-B systems to ingest and process additional resources. Today, the system has evolved to a 17ft Geo, 4.7m Geo, 2.4m C/Ku Geo, 1Oft Polar, 1.5m Polar, and 3m Polar antennas that can ingest and process both domestic and international METSAT data. 5. Additionally, in 2004 the Air Force experienced an Air Force Specialty Code restructure whereby the Air Force no longer trained specific MARK IV-8 maintainers for the operational sites. This change resulted in relocating the MARK IV-8 training suite from Keesler AFB to the Lockheed Martin facility at King of Prussia in Pennsylvania. With this change, the Contractor assumed the task of training the Air Force maintainers as well as sustaining, maintaining, and operating the test bed and training suite at their depot facility. The MARK IV-8 system ingest weather satellite data from 25 international satellites 24/7, each with a variety of sensors and data types. The highly specialized nature of the system requires the Contractor to have immediate access to the test bed and training suite to perform the sustainment functions on day one of a new contract award, as well as any associated 3080/3085 projects in execution. Therefore, this acquisition is for the continued performance of a highly specialized service. B. Unique and Highly Specialized Capabilities and Qualifications: Lockheed Martin has been providing system engineering design, test, evaluation, operations, maintenance, and sustainment support on the MARK IV-8 systems for more than 32 years. Over these years, they have gained intimate knowledge and experience regarding the system's unique METSAT data servers and the Forecaster software applications. The Contractor has developed a unique resource skill set required to understand modern and secure information systems that process satellite weather sensor data specifically for space, atmospheric, and surface meteorological phenomena utilized for weather modeling and forecasting purposes. This skill set comprises a mix of scientific and technical skills specific to DoD weather operational requirements. This specific combination of expertise along with the Contractor developed, highly specialized test bed and training suite are not a common commodity found in the marketplace based on the results of the market research conducted. MARK IV-8 is the only DoD system to ingest, process, store, and disseminate satellite sensor data. As a result, Lockheed Martin possesses unique and highly specialized capabilities and qualifications to perform the subject effort. C. FAR 6.302-1 Only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements: Only one responsible source (the incumbent) responded to the sources sought synopsis posted to SAM.gov on 21 August 2023.As such, it is unlikely that a competitive RFP would result in more than one qualified response. Even if multiple qualified sources had responded, other circumstances consistent with 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii)(A&B) preclude the use of competitive procedures to meet Governments requirements efficiently as they would result in unacceptable delays and substantial duplication of cost to the Government not expected to be recovered through competition. 1. The MARK IV-B program office believes that award to any other source would result in unacceptable delays to the Government. a. FAR 6.302·1(a)(2)(iii)(B):Unacceptable delays in fulfilling the agencies requirements. i. MARK IV-B includes nine (9) world-wide sites all with varying antennas depending on what satellites are flying overhead. While the SW baseline remains the same across all sites, and the general hardware configuration of servers and processors remains the same, the variation of antennas and their connectivity within and from the sites varies greatly depending on local infrastructure. The base infrastructure, power grid, comms line capability, etc. at Soto Cano, Honduras is drastically different than that of Kapaun Germany. Those items, plus the variation in antennas and their individual quirks require a test bed nearly continuously available to support all software updates, including testing and deploying critical cybersecurity updates. If unable to test for and correct most issues before installing the SW, the on-site system downtime required would preclude meeting the Operational Availability (Ao) requirement. Similarly, the test bed allows real time analysis and corrective actions to fix issues and/or assist on-site maintainers in resolving issues. This capability is uniquely important for MARK IV-B because the on-site "maintainers" are communication specialists, not MARK IV-B specialists. Finally, the test bed also provides a training suite capability that allows the contractor to maintain nearly continuous system monitoring, world-wide that is also critical to meeting the Ao requirement on this legacy system. ii. In 2017-2019, the Government worked with the existing contractor to develop a transition plan that included relocation of the test bed to a government site. Access to an appropriate Government site never became available, however the detailed plan demonstrated a test bed move and knowledge transfer would optimistically take at least 6 months. During the resulting gap in service while a new contractor gets up to speed to be able to perform the contractual requirements, and while the test bed is down and being relocated, the Government would continue to have a need for the critical 24/7 METSAT data processed and disseminated by the MARK IV-B system. A break in service would leave the Government without current weather data for a significant period and be detrimental to the DoD's tactical and strategic military operations around the world. Weather forecasting is a vital mission to ensure the safety of our warfighters and equipment. While there are other reference options for forecasters in the United States, warfighter forecasters in OCONUS locations rely heavily on the MARK IV-B program for forecasting purposes. iii. Only one responsible source responded to the sources sought synopsis posted to SAM.gov on 21 August 2023. Had additional qualified sources responded, the time to transition the test bed could lead to a 6- month gap in availability. This would result in an impact on mission capability creating an unacceptable delay in meeting agency requirements. b. FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii){A):Substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition. i. The Government has conducted two Business Case Analyses (BCA), initially in 2015 and updated in 2023. The Government estimates it will cost approximately to move the test bed and training suite to a government location, assuming that such a location could be found and secured for the move, and outfitted to accept the test bed at no additional costs. The includes costs for the physical relocation of the test bed. There would also be costs for dual Contractor support over a six-month period to prevent unacceptable delays associated with knowledge transfer. Using the current contract FFP monthly cost, a six-month transition period wherein both old and new contractor are compensated, approximately would be added to the cost of the transition, raising the overall duplicated cost to enable a competition to approximately . The cost for this contract is estimated to be . Assuming that competition was available (which as stated above is not supported by market research), and assuming that the Government could save as high as of estimated contract value because of a competitive environment, the Government would optimistically save as much as over the same period. Thus, enabling the possibility of a competitive environment, assuming that a Government property was available to relocate the test bed at no additional costs, would still end up costing the Government at least in duplicated costs that would not be recovered over the course of this proposed 7 year contract. Additionally, the Government would still have the unacceptable delays in fulfilling its mission associated with the downtime of the test bed while it is being relocated. ii. Accordingly, the Government 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 for these highly specialized services. D. Conclusion: Lockheed Martin is the only firm capable of providing the services described herein without the Air Force experiencing unacceptable delays and substantial duplication of costs not expected to be recovered through competition in fulfilling its requirements. IV. Description of efforts made to ensure that offers are solicited from as many potential sources as practicable, including whether a notice was or will be publicized as required by subpart 5.2 and, if not, which exception under FAR 5.202 applies. A. The program office and the contracting officer conducted market research to ascertain if competition was feasible. On 21 August 2023, the contracting officer posted a sources sought synopsis to SAM.gov. One small business (SB) and one large business (LB) responded to the synopsis. The small business response was from . The large business response was from the incumbent, Lockheed Martin. The program office's evaluations of the respondent Statements of Capabilities is below in section VII. As part of the on-going market research, the PMO identified various websites from the small pool of potential companies of potential qualified bidders. This task involved comprehensive searches using internet search engines. The search found a few companies that had the potential capability to satisfy some of the Government's requirements as identified. The team reviewed the information and determined no other entity could satisfy the highly specialized and varied requirements of the weather weapon system MARK IV-B. B. This acquisition will require a synopsis in accordance with FAR 5.201. A pr solicitation notice for the contemplated contract will be posted to SAM.gov. This announcement will provide a Notice of Contract Action. The Request for Proposal will be issued no earlier than fifteen days after publication of the notice. C. As only one responsible source responded to the sources sought synopsis it is unlikely that a competitive RFP would result in more than one qualified response. V. Determination by the Contracting Officer that the anticipated cost to the Government will be fair and reasonable. The contracting officer anticipates the costs for this acquisition will be fair and reasonable. The Contractor will be required to submit certified cost or pricing data. The program office will perform a complete technical evaluation. The contracting officer will perform both price and cost analyses. In addition, the contracting officer will request support from the Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) as needed to obtain information on previous actuals, material costs, and rates. VI. Description of the market research conducted and the results, or a statement of the reasons market research was not conducted. A. ‘s Statement of Capabilities was evaluated by the Program Office. The Program Office evaluated the SOC by key areas of expertise. Those areas were Program Manager, Logistician, Engineer, and ISSM/ Cyber. Overall, the evaluation determined that did not have the meteorological, engineering, and cybersecurity experience that is necessary for this contract. The evaluation specifically noted that the MARK-IV B contract is approximately software development and cybersecurity support and that does not have enough relevant expertise in these key areas. B. Lockheed Martin's Statement of Capabilities was also evaluated by the Program Office. The Program office evaluated the same key areas of expertise and determined that Lockheed continues to have the capabilities necessary to successfully perform this contract. C. As identified in Section IV above, even if multiple qualified sources responded to a competitive RFP, the circumstances described meet the requirements of FAR 6.302-1(a)(2)(iii)(A&B) and preclude the use of competitive procedures to meet Governments requirements efficiently as they would result in unacceptable delays and substantial duplication of cost to the Government not expected to be recovered through competition. VII. Any other facts supporting the use of Other Than Full and Open Competition. N/A VIII. List of any sources that expressed, in writing, an interest in the acquisition. See Section V above. IX. A statement of the actions, if any, the agency may take to remove or overcome any barriers to competition before any subsequent acquisitions for the supplies or services required. A. In 2017-2019 the program office scoured all Air Force locations to attempt to relocate the test bed and training suite to a CONUS Air Force base to enable future competition. Only one site had a location that was large enough to house the antennas, inventory, office and lab space and testing and training equipment. Further evaluation indicated that the office and lab site at Offutt AFB would have to have the concrete foundation completely dug out and dropped at least 3 feet, adding great cost to the project. The 1960's era building has concrete floors and ceilings and would not have enough height to house lab space with cable ducts and adequate cooling vents. B. Specific steps taken included working with Air Force Space Command --Strategic Planning (AFSPC/A8) on the MILCON process, working with base Civil Engineering groups on potential site locations, performing an economic analysis at potential locations and working with AF Program Element Monitors (PEMs). The program office continued pursuing the test bed move until all options were exhausted. Neither Air Combat Command (former lead command) nor Space and Missile Systems Center would fund the move. C. It should be noted that the Government also investigated other options short of moving the test bed and training suite to an Air Force base but found them to be infeasible. For example, the Government asked Lockheed Martin if it would lease its facility to another Contractor to allow access to the test bed and training suite, but Lockheed Martin declined. The Government also investigated relocating the test bed and training suite to a leased commercial facility, but this option proved infeasible because it did not guarantee unobstructed field of views for the ground antennas should a private commercial entity choose to build new structures near the MARK IV-B systems. This option would also require the Government to invest approximately in establishing secure network connections for data transfers. X. Certification by the Contracting Officer. As evidenced by my signature above, I certify that this justification is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and belief. XI. Certification by the technical/requirements personnel. As evidenced by our signatures above, we certify that any supporting data contained herein, which is our responsibility, is both accurate and complete.