Intent to Sole Source: X/Ka Satellite Communications System (AN/SSC-15) Sustainment Services

The Department of the Navy, Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific (NIWC Pacific), hereby publicizes its intention to solicit, negotiate, and award a standalone contract with a five (5)-year period (including a one (1)-year base period and four (4) one (1)-year option periods) to Raytheon Technologies (RTX) on an other than full and open competition basis in direct support for technical and engineering support for the X/Ka Satellite Communications system (AN/SSC-15). The incumbent, Raytheon Technologies, hereby referred to as Raytheon, is the original company responsible for providing technical and engineering support for the X/Ka system. This procurement provides performance based technical and engineering services to the X/Ka system so that the program can continue to support fleet Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) systems. The X/Ka requirements include distance and onsite support, repair, test, and applicable engineering functions for the three U.S. Navy Fleet X/Ka systems. Raytheon is the developer and production manufacturer of the Mission Systems Equipment (MSE) systems, including X/Ka systems, and the Total Ship Computing Environment (TSCE). As such, Raytheon is the only company that possesses the detailed knowledge and technical expertise to provide technical and engineering support services for sustainment of the X/Ka system. Raytheon is currently at different stages installing, integrating, and testing the TSCE and MSEs on each of the three ships in the DDG 1000 class. The TSCE and MSEs, in particular the X/Ka, are not in their final state because of ongoing hardware and software design changes due to issues uncovered during integration and testing. The Government has the rights to the technical data of the X/Ka system, but have not obtained the data yet due to the current work phase. Raytheon has been working on the development of the combat systems (includes TSCE and X/Ka) since initial design back in year 2002. Raytheon is currently in the integration and testing phases of the combat system work. The technical data package is not available at this time due to the ongoing design changes to the combat systems. Without a technical data package available at this time a competitor will need to make a considerable investment in personnel and time to reasonably expect to support the technical portion of the sustainment task. A new procurement is needed by 01 July 2021 to provide sustainment support for the X/Ka system. The first ship in the class (DDG 1000) is scheduled to be turned over to the US Navy in 30 December 2021. This notice of intent is NOT a request for quote. A determination by the government not to compete based upon responses to this notice is solely at the discretion of the government. The applicable NAICS Code is 541330 - Engineering Services and the business size standard is $16.5 million dollars. The point of contact for this announcement is Dennis Chae at dennis.chae@navy.mil. Be advised that the aforementioned information is anticipatory in nature and is not binding. This notice is not a request for quotes; however, any firm believing that they can fulfill the requirement may be considered by the agency. Interested parties may identify their interest and capabilities in response to this synopsis. Any comments, questions or concerns regarding this notice may be submitted via e-mail to dennis.chae@navy.mil by 22 December 2020 at 0800 PST. Questions by phone or fax will not be considered.