Notice of Intent- FRASCA Flight Sim Software

FRASCA SIMULATOR WARRANTY The 10th Contracting Squadron, United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) Colorado has received a Sole Source justification to extend its Frasca Warranty covering twelve Frasca 241 flight simulators to Frasca International of 906 E. Airport Rd, Urbana, IL 61802. Frasca International is a small business. This warranty protects the government's assets. Malfunctioning equipment impedes the U.S. Air Force Academy's flight training mission. This commercial sole source acquisition will be procured using simplified procedures in accordance with FAR Part 13. The North American Industry Classification System Code (NAICS) is 336413, Other Aircraft Part and Auxiliary Equipment Manufacturing. The small business size standard for this NAICS is1,250 employees. Only one responsible source and no other item will satisfy the USAFA current requirements based on the following justification: Frasca International designed and custom built DFMI's twelve flight simulators containing numerous data bases that achieve the simulation requirements set forth by the Department of Military and Strategic Studies. To integrate the component subsystems within each simulator and to network these simulators together, a large number of proprietary software programs were created by Frasca. When one of these systems malfunctions it affects the remaining systems. Only the software engineers that created these data bases can determine which system caused the problem and what the appropriate repairs are. The local technicians relay the symptoms of the malfunction to the Frasca engineers. They, determine the appropriate repair steps for the technicians to follow. Custom software is used in simulators of this caliber to achieve the desired results. All of the software programs were written by Frasca International and only they have complete knowledge of its workings. Since each system in the simulator relies on information from every other system, it would be unwise to attempt to repair or manipulate one system without complete knowledge of the interaction of all systems. At this time, Frasca International is the only company that has compete knowledge of the intricate workings of each software package and system. This synopsis is for notification purposes only and does not constitute a solicitation for bids or quotes. DO NOT submit a bid/quote at this time. Any offerors believing they can provide the required warranty described above may provide evidence for consideration. Evidence must support the offeror's claim that the warranty can be provided. All qualified sources may submit a response, which if timely received, will be considered by this agency. Information received will be considered solely for the purpose of determining whether a competitive procurement can be conducted. A determination not to compete this proposed procurement based on responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the government. Responses must be received NLT 1:00 p.m. MST on 4 Sep 2018. Responses received after this will be considered late IAW FAR 52.212-1(f) and will not be evaluated. The Government does not intend to pay for any information provided under this announcement. Contractors must have a current registration in the System for Award Management (SAM). Questions should be addressed to this point of contact: Kelly Reyes at kelly.reyes.4@us.af.mil. (AFFARS 5352.201-9101) OMBUDSMAN (JUN 2016) (a) An ombudsman has been appointed to hear and facilitate the resolution of concerns from offerors, potential offerors, and others for this acquisition. When requested, the ombudsman will maintain strict confidentiality as to the source of the concern. The existence of the ombudsman does not affect the authority of the program manager, contracting officer, or source selection official. Further, the ombudsman does not participate in the evaluation of proposals, the source selection process, or the adjudication of protests or formal contract disputes. The ombudsman may refer the interested party to another official who can resolve the concern. (b) Before consulting with an ombudsman, interested parties must first address their concerns, issues, disagreements, and/or recommendations to the contracting officer for resolution. Consulting an ombudsman does not alter or postpone the timelines for any other processes (e.g., agency level bid protests, GAO bid protests, requests for debriefings, employee-employer actions, contests of OMB Circular A-76 competition performance decisions). (c) If resolution cannot be made by the contracting officer, the interested party may contact the ombudsman, Mr. James Anderson 8110 Industrial Drive, Ste 103 USAFA, CO 80840 Telephone number 719-333-2074 FAX 719-333-9018 email: james.anderson.72@us.af.mil Concerns, issues, disagreements, and recommendations that cannot be resolved at the Center/MAJCOM/DRU/SMC ombudsman level, may be brought by the interested party for further consideration to the Air Force ombudsman, Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary (ADAS) (Contracting), SAF/AQC, 1060 Air Force Pentagon, Washington DC 20330-1060, phone number (571) 256-2395, facsimile number (571) 256-2431. (d) The ombudsman has no authority to render a decision that binds the agency. (e) Do not contact the ombudsman to request copies of the solicitation, verify offer due date, or clarify technical requirements. Such inquiries shall be directed to the Contracting Officer. (End of clause)