ASBCA 62764

ARMED SERVICES BOARD OF CONTRACT APPEALS Appeal of - ) ) ATECH Inc. ) ASBCA No. 62764 ) Under Contract No. FA4861-19-P-A225 ) APPEARANCES FOR THE APPELLANT: Christopher L. Lockwood, Esq. Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP Huntsville, AL Jerome S. Gabig, Esq. Guntersville, AL APPEARANCES FOR THE GOVERNMENT: Jeffrey P. Hildebrant, Esq. Deputy Chief Trial Attorney Isabelle P. Cutting, Esq. Trial Attorney OPINION BY ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE O’CONNELL Appellant, ATECH, Inc. (ATECH), challenges the termination for convenience of a commercial items contract for the provision of spare parts for an aircraft arresting system and seeks an unpaid amount of $85,907.50. The parties have submitted this appeal on the record pursuant to Board Rule 11. The Board sustains the money claim but rejects the challenge to the termination for convenience. FINDINGS OF FACT 1. This procurement began on September 20, 2019, when the Air Force 99th Contracting Squadron published a notice of intent to issue a sole source contract to ESCO Zodiac Aerospace (ESCO) to purchase BAK-14 barrier parts and clutch assemblies for use by the Power Pro maintenance shop at Nellis Air Force Base (R4, tabs 1-2). The sole source notice was based on the Air Force’s belief that only ESCO could provide parts “at the level of quality required because the supplies . . . are unique or highly specialized” (R4, tab 1). But the notice allowed other suppliers to submit a capability statement by September 24, 2019 (id.). 2. The BAK-14 is support equipment for the BAK-12, which is the standard Air Force aircraft arresting system for decelerating landing aircraft. According to a Federal Aviation Administration draft advisory circular published in 2019:  The BAK-14 hook cable support system . . . is a bidirectional hook cable (pendant) support system used in conjunction with the BAK-12, or a comparable arresting system, to engage and safely stop a hook-equipped aircraft. It provides the means to support the pendant at least 2 inches above the runway surface while giving air traffic control (ATC) the means to lower the pendant below the surface of the runway to prevent damage to low- undercarriage aircraft, the pendant, and the pavement below the pendant during trampling. Aircraft Arresting Systems on Civil Airports, https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Advisory_Circular/draft-150-5220- 9B.pdf at A-2. ∗ 3. The sole source notice listed 18 discrete parts that the Air Force expected ESCO to furnish (R4, tab 2 at 3, 5). 4. After the Air Force granted an extension, ATECH submitted a proposal on September 26, 2019 (R4, tab 4; app. supp. R4, tab A-2). The proposal contained a list of the 18 parts that ATECH proposed to furnish (R4, tab 4 at 2). 5. The proposal contained various representations by ATECH, including that “ATECHs main supply and support is for US MIL standard aircraft arresting systems such as fixed BAK-12, mobile BAK-12 (MAAS), [and] BAK-14” (R4, tab 4 at 14). It listed numerous examples of entire BAK-12 systems or parts related to the BAK-12 that ATECH had provided to the United States and other countries (id. at 16-20). The proposal included a conditional first article test approval by the Air Force of the clutch assembly (id. at 12) and included sketches of the parts it proposed to furnish (id. at 4-11). 6. The Air Force has not identified any statements in the ATECH proposal that were false or misleading. 7.