This is a Notice of Proposed Contract Action under the FAR Part 12 Acquisition of Commercial Items and FAR Part 13 Simplified Acquisition Procedures.  This notice is for information only; a solicitation will not be issued. THIS IS NOT A REQUEST FOR QUOTATION. No contract will be awarded on the basis of offers received in response to this notice. The associated North American Industry Classification System (NAICS) code is 334220 with a small business size standard of 1,250 employees.

The Government requires the purchase of two manpack radio systems. Details are:

Item 1: AN/PRC-160(V)1 RADIO ASSEMBLY, HF MANPACK, MIL GPS, 2 ea
Item 2: RF-7800H-TM001 150W MINI T-CASE, 2 ea
Item 3: RF-7800H-MP002 HF MANPACK, CITADEL/AES ENCR, W/GPS, W/HF WMT, 2 ea
Item 4: RF-7800H-TM003 T-CASE, 400-W MINI ADAP 2 ea

To fulfill the requirement, the Government intends to negotiate a sole source contract with:

L3HARRIS TECHNOLOGIES

1680 University Ave

Rochester, NY 14610 , USA

The Government has determined that no other source can meet this requirement.  The PRC-160 wideband HF radio is currently fielded and any future developed radio must be compatible with this radio. The Harris AN/PRC High Frequency (HF) Radio is the only wideband HF radio currently fielded that meets the requirements below:

- Is NSA Type-1 Crypto Certified up to Top Secret Level;

- Employs HF wideband data transmission techniques;

- Backward compatible with all radios in the same manufacturers brand line;

- Software defined to facilitate upgrades such as complying with emerging waveform standards and other capabilities;

- Allows an operator to change frequencies within seconds at the push of a button or twist of a dial without the need for equipment external to the radio.

- Provide the operator with a viewing screen that indicates the operating state of the radio without the need for equipment external to the radio.

The L3Harris AN-PRC-160 is the only radio that meets all of the requirements identified above. It is also the only such radio currently being manufactured known to be proven. Hundreds of these radios have been delivered across the Department of Defense and are performing satisfactorily. Other radios reviewed by an HF Radio Study Group were either beyond a year from production, had backward compatibility problems, were unable to upgrade to the emerging 3G and 4G HF waveform standards, could not be used for classified transmissions, required peripherals to permit the operator to interact with the radio, or a combination of these limitations. Without this radio, compatibility with legacy radios cannot be guaranteed. The proposed sole source is the only known source that can satisfy the government’s requirement.

This is a notice of proposed contract action and not a request for competitive quotes; however, all responsible sources may submit a capability statement or quote, which shall be considered by the agency. All inquiries should be emailed to Richard Childres, [email protected].

Responses must be submitted by the date/time listed on the notice. Any response to this notice must show clear and convincing evidence that competition would be advantageous to the Government in future procurements.

Responses received will be evaluated; however a determination by the Government not to compete the proposed procurement based upon responses to this notice is solely within the discretion of the Government. The Government anticipates an award date on or before 30 September 2021.