ASBCA 61333

ARMED SERVICES BOARD OF CONTRACT APPEALS Appeal of -- ) ) Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc. ) ASBCA No. 61333 ) Under Contract No. SPE4A7-16-C-0218 ) APPEARANCES FOR THE APPELLANT: Mr. Enrique Dillon Director/President Mr. Todd J. Biederman Defense Contracts Manager APPEARANCES FOR THE GOVERNMENT: Daniel K. Poling, Esq. DLA Chief Trial Attorney Edward R. Murray, Esq. Trial Attorney DLA Aviation Richmond, VA OPINION BY ADMINISTRATIVE JUDGE PAUL ON THE GOVERNMENT'S MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT This is a timely appeal of a contracting officer's (CO's) final decision terminating appellant, Ballistic Recovery Systems, Inc.'s (BRSI's), supply contract for default. The Contract Disputes Act of 1978 (CDA), 41 U.S.C. §§ 7101-7109, is applicable. The government filed a motion for summary judgment, BRSI submitted an opposition document and the government filed a reply. STATEMENT OF FACTS FOR PURPOSES OF THE MOTION 1. On March 25, 2016, the parties entered into fixed-price Contract No. SPE4A7-l 6-C-0218 (the contract) for the supply of 1,667 deployment sleeves at a total contractual amount of$221,962 (R4, tab 1 at 1). 1 2. The deployment sleeves were an integral part of "the T-11 Personal Parachute System, a personal parachute used by the United States Army for mass insertion" (gov't mot., Koven decl. ,r 2). The parachute system comprised "the main canopy, the deployment sleeve [at issue here], ... a smaller canopy called the drogue 1 The contract incorporated Solicitation No. SPE4A7-16-R-1504 (R4, tab 5), as well as BRSI's bid (R4, tab 1 at 1, tab 7 at 3). chute, ... a bridle line that connects the deployment sleeve to the main canopy, ... as well as several other components" (id., ,i 3). 3. According to the sworn declaration of Ms. Jennifer Koven, a textile technologist with the Army's Aerial Delivery Engineering Support Team: Unlike a freefall parachute, where the parachutist pulls a rip cord to initiate the deployment sequence, the T-11 is attached to the aircraft by a static line. The parachute thus begins to deploy shortly after the parachutist exits the aircraft and the static line reaches full tension. The deployment sleeve extracts from the deployment bag and the drogue chute inflates at the top end of the deployment sleeve. The drag created by the drogue chute causes the deployment sleeve to elongate, thereby removing the main canopy from the deployment sleeve in proper elongated fashion. The canopy, which is attached to the deployment sleeve by the bridle line, then begins to inflate. Once the canopy is approximately one-half to two-thirds inflated, the drogue chute loses its air resistance and deflates. The deployment sleeve and drogue chute then come to rest on the top of the canopy. The T-11 Personnel Parachute System is reusable. Thus, after landing and recovery the system is inspected and repacked for another use. (Gov't mot., Koven decl. ,i 4) (Citations omitted) 4. The contract incorporated by reference the following, pertinent Federal Acquisition Regulation (FAR) clauses: FAR 52.246-2, INSPECTION OF SUPPLIES-FIXED-PRICE (AUG 1996); FAR 52.246-16, RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUPPLIES (APR 1984); and FAR 52.249-8, DEFAULT(FIXED-PRICE SUPPLY AND SERVICE (APR 1984) (R4, tab 1 at 10, 12). It also included FAR 52.209-4, FIRST ARTICLE APPROVAL-GOVERNMENT TESTING (SEP 1989) clause, which provided: (a) The Contractor shall deliver 2 each=l test unit(s) of Lot/Item 1670-01-567-2211 within [85] calendar days from the date of this contract to the Government at [The US Army Research Development and Engineering Center, Natick, Massachusetts (ADEST)] for first article tests. The shipping documentation shall contain this contract number and the Lot/Item identification.