(a) Competition is the cornerstone of Navy acquisition policy. As such, the preferred and predominant method of pricing in the Navy is through the use of competition, without the need for cost or pricing data and cost analysis. The Navy has found that not only does competition generate more favorable prices, but significant time and effort can be saved by relying on the forces of competition to establish prices, as opposed to the use of detailed cost analysis. This approach is not only consistent with the Competition in Contracting Act (CICA), but it affords the opportunity for significant efficiencies and reduction of procurement leadtime as a result of minimizing the requirement for cost or pricing data and associated audit reports. As competition is increasingly relied upon and the need for cost or pricing data is reduced, there may be a corresponding requirement for performing a cost realism evaluation for many competitive procurements to guard against unrealistically low prices which can lead to quality deficiencies, late deliveries, performance shortfalls, and cost overruns. In performing cost realism evaluation, only the minimum selected data to perform the cost realism evaluation is to be obtained, as opposed to full cost or pricing data which would be required when it is necessary to perform cost-based negotiations, such as in the case of sole source negotiations.