DF - 82031 - redacted

DETERMINATION & FINDINGS

Authority to Solicit from a Single Source (at or below the SAT)

1. Agency and Contracting Activity: AFSC/PZIMA

2. Nature and/or Description of the Action:
The Contractor shall provide all the tools, parts, materials, equipment, and transportation to the 402d Aircraft Maintenance Group (AMXG) at Robins Air Force Base (AFB), Georgia to provide portable x-ray kits and laser pointers.
(Contracting Officer Instruction: Select the applicable authority for this acquisition)

RFO 8.401 and GSAR 538.7104-3(a) (FSS Orders): The circumstances of the acquisition deem only one source reasonably capable of providing the products, services, or solutions. RFO 12.102(a) (Commercial Products and Services): Only one source is available, including the use of brand-name descriptions without allowing for “equal” products. RFO 13.101(b) (Noncommercial Products and Services): Only one source is reasonably available (e.g., urgency, exclusive licensing agreements, brand-name, or industrial mobilization).

3. Findings:

This acquisition is a brand name, without allowing for "equal" product, acquisition. Spellman High-Voltage Electronics Corporation is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and sole provider for the portable x-ray kits and laser pointers. The Spellman NDT (non-destructive testing) portable X-ray systems and laser pointers perform internal inspections on industrial materials, aerospace components, and defense equipment to find tiny flaws before they cause failures. The key uses and applications of the NDT X-ray systems are to check aircraft parts and structural integrity for hidden cracks or defects and to test critical equipment components in the field where reliability is vital.
The portable Lorad/Spellman LPX-160/SPX-160 (updated to the SPX160ACDBCM) is the standard authorized portable X-ray equipment for Air Force conventional radiography inspections. The Department of the Air Force (DAF) Nondestructive Inspection (NDI) Program Office standardizes equipment across depot locations to support consistent inspection performance. ,
identifies the Lorad/Spellman system as the approved equipment for this application. NDI activities are; therefore, limited to the equipment authorized in that table, and we cannot purchase or use equipment that is not authorized for the program. All programmed NDI X-ray inspections are published in weapon-system-specific -36 technical orders ( ). These procedures were developed by NDI Level III engineering through iterative testing, validation, and documentation