The 96th Contracting Squadron, Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, intends to solicit and award a sole source Firm-Fixed Price contract to Accumet Materials, Co. for 12,000 lbs of High Density Tungsten Powder under the authority of FAR 6.302-1. The North American Industry Classification System for this acquisition is 332117, small business size standard: 500 people. Interested parties may submit their capabilities package to the email address below. This notice is not a request for competitive proposals/quotes. However, the government will consider all responses received within 5 days of publication. A determination by the government not to compete this proposed contract based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government. Questions shall be submitted electronically to lesa.white@eglin.af.mil and scott.florkey@eglin.af.mil . Requirement includes 12,000 lbs of High Density Tungsten Powder, product number HD-LLNL2N5100-200. -100+200 mesh with APS of 112 microns. THE FOLLOWING IS JUSTIFICATION FOR OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION I. CONTRACTING ACTIVITY This is for the Justification for Other Than Full and Open Competition on the purchasing of 12,000lbs of tungsten powder material. II. NATURE AND/OR DESCRIPTION OF THE ACTION BEING PROCESSED Individual J&A for new acquisition under a Government Purchase Order; firm-fixed price. III. DESCRIPTION OF THE SUPPLIES/SERVICES REQUIRED TO MEET THE AGENCY'S NEEDS This acquisition is for the purchase of 12,000 lbs of Tungsten Powder, (-100 + 200 mesh, quote #: 200910274, part #: HD/LLNL2N5100-200). This purchase will support the loading operations necessary to support the AFRL/RWME work order to fill 100 FLM assets for the 681st ARSS. Accumet is the recommended source as their material; meets particle size requirements, purity requirements and was successfully demonstrated in the last 2 years as part of the Precision Lethality Munitions Program. Use of any other vendor will require the candidate chosen for use in this program to be requalified at the cost of $750K per explosive formulation, and 12 month schedule slip, hence jeopardizing AFRL/RWME's ability to meet system readiness dates. IV. STATUTORY AUTHORITY PERMITTING OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION 10 USC 2304(c) (1), as implemented by FAR 6.302-1 (Only one responsible source). V. DEMONSTRATION THAT THE CONTRACTOR'S UNIQUE QUALIFICATIONS OR NATURE OF THE ACQUISITION REQUIRES THE USE OF THE AUTHORITY CITED ABOVE (APPLICABILITY OF AUTHORITY) FAR 6.302-1 provides for a sole source award in the case of unique supplies or services available from only one or a limited number of sources or from only one or a limited number of suppliers with unique capabilities. IX. ANY OTHER FACTS SUPPORTING THE USE OF OTHER THAN FULL AND OPEN COMPETITION In the past, AFRL/RWME has attempted to utilize Tungsten material provided by Kulite and Teledyne. In most cases, despite the 99% purity, these materials have contained known/unknown trace impurities which cause material compatibility failures in ~75% of all formulation batches produced. To date, RWME researchers have been unable to identify the root cause for failures with these materials. By comparison, RWME has produced nearly 6000 lbs of Tungsten based explosive formulations in over 200 mixing operations without a single material failure, when using Accumet material. Given material failures associated with previous material procured from Teledyne and Kulite, extensive resources have been divested to research and have yet to determine the cause of these failures, and would require additional resources to characterize these failures. Historical data has determined that Accumet is the only vendor capable of providing this material. As Tungsten is highly influenced by the commodity market, and the rapidly changing world market conditions the price of future material cannot be accurately predicted. X. LIST OF SOURCES, IF ANY, THAT EXPRESSED INTEREST IN THE ACQUISITION See Section VI above. XI. A STATEMENT OF THE ACTIONS, IF ANY, THE AGENCY MAY TAKE TO REMOVE OR OVERCOME ANY BARRIERS TO COMPETITION BEFORE MAKING SUBSEQUENT ACQUISITIONS FOR THE SUPPLIES OR SERVICES REQUIRED This is expected to be a one-time buy. Thus, further steps to foster competition are not required at this time. XII. CONTRACTING OFFICER'S CERTIFICATION The contracting officer's signature on the Coordination and Approval Document evidences that he/she has determined this document to be both accurate and complete to the best of his/her knowledge and belief (FAR 6.303-2(a)(12)). XIII. TECHNICAL/REQUIREMENTS PERSONNEL'S CERTIFICATION As evidenced by their signatures on the Coordination and Approval Document, the technical and/or requirements personnel have certified that any supporting data contained herein, which is their responsibility, is both accurate and complete (FAR 6.303-2(b)). NOTE: 1. Before definitizing a not-to-exceed (NTE) option, the contracting officer must ensure that the effort covered by the NTE option has been synopsized in accordance with FAR 5.201 and a J&A that covers the effort has been approved. (See AFFARS 5317.207).
