Notice of Intent to Sole Source Award

THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR COMPETITIVE PROPOSALS. In accordance with Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) 5.101, this is a notice of intent to award a firm-fixed price sole source modification to LENCO Industries, Inc, dba LENCO Armored Vehicles, 10 Betnr Industrial Drive, Pittsfield MA 01201-7831, for enhanced blast mitigation upgrades to eight LENCO BFL603s (BEARs) currently in production under contract and upgrades to six already produced LENCO BFL603s (BEARs) under contract. This purchase shall fall under the authority of 41 USC 253(c)(1) and FAR 6.302-1, only one responsible source and no other supplies or services will satisfy agency requirements. The LENCO BFL603 (BEAR) model contains highly specialized features and seating capacity which is specifically designed to accommodate our operational security needs in Afghanistan and no other source can meet these requirements without substantial additional program costs and time, which will severely impact the Bureau of Diplomatic Security's (DS) protective mission. Specifically, under the current delivery order, LENCO has fully produced all six vehicles; however, the Department has not accepted delivery of these vehicles. LENCO has developed and integrated mission critical applications and equipment essential to meeting DOS security goals in Afghanistan. LENCO possesses and utilizes proprietary equipment and designs to manufacture and outfit these armored vehicles necessary for this mission and is the only known source that can meet the standardized logistic, training and program requirements for DS. These armored vehicles from LENCO have been through a tremendous amount of ballistic and blast testing to validate the armoring systems being deployed on these vehicles. These tests have been completed by the Department of Defense for the US Army and US Navy, H.P White Laboratory, an independent lab for numerous US Government Agencies and commercial armoring companies and the Department of State. Using another company to uninstall the current armor, redesign, test and install the enhanced armor on the LENCO product would result in a substantial duplication of cost to the Government that is not expected to be recovered through competition and would result in unacceptable delays. By completing this order in a timely matter, DS will be able to ship these armored vehicles to Afghanistan to support our security requirements and provide life safety services to DOS personnel. A determination by the Government not to open the requirement to competition based on the responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government.