Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2018-02-10
Buyer: Ministry of Defence, Helicopters, Merlin Project Team
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Negotiated procedure
CPV classification: 34731100
Estimated value:  GBP
Submission deadline: 2018-03-14
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: Aircraft engines. Aircraft Engine Support. The Authority has a requirement for the technical support, maintenance, modification and minor additional technical and engineering support of both the UK Ministry of Defence Merlin and Apache AH Mk1 Helicopter engines (including associated Engine Accessory Units).
The requirement shall include on-aircraft technical support, off-aircraft engine testing, supply of engine spares and maintenance and repair of engines and accessories to ensure the Merlin and Apache AH Mk1 Helicopter fleets receive the required levels of engine support. The requirement for support to the Apache AH Mk1 fleet shall be for a period of 5 years from April 2019 with Contract Options to extend by up to 2 years. The requirement for support to the Merlin fleet shall be from 1.4.2019 to March 2030 with Contract options to extend to 2040.
It is not anticipated that the requirement for the Merlin and Apache AH Mk1 fleet solutions will be split.
Innovative and variant proposals will be welcomed and considered and evaluated against the methodology used for all bids under this requirement.
Estimated Value of Requirement: Between 1 100 000 000 GBP and 1 400 000 000 GBP (inclusive of options) including all applicable VAT, taxes and duties.
If a bidder requests any Government Furnished Equipment, Facilities, Information or other property (collectively “GFA”) (including but not limited to the supply of services and/or technical support in relation to the RTM-322 Engines the Authority currently has in-service) there will be a compensatory reduction in the available budget equivalent to the costs of such GFA and the Authority shall add those costs to the bid price for evaluation, comparison and award purposes.
Interested companies are required to complete a Dynamic Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (DPQQ) to provide the Authority with information to evaluate the company’s capacities and capabilities against the selection criteria.
It is envisaged that a minimum number of 2 and a maximum number of 6 companies will be invited to tender by the Authority based upon the DPQQ response weighted scores.
Options to extend the engine support for the Apache AH Mk1 by up to 2 years and for the Merlin by up to 10 years.
The contracting authority considers that this contract is unlikely to be suitable for economic operators that are small or medium enterprises (SMEs). However, any selection of tenderers will be based solely on the criteria set out for the procurement, and the contract will be awarded on the basis of the most economically advantageous tender. Suppliers interested in working with the MOD should register on its Supplier Information Database (SID), available at www.contracts.mod.uk. The SID is a catalogue of potential suppliers available to all MOD procurement staff, and is the main supplier database used by MOD. Please note that the registration and publication of a company profile on the SID does not mean or imply that the supplier has in any way been vetted or approved by the MOD. Suppliers wishing to compete for a contract opportunity must respond to any specific call for competition by submitting a separate expression of interest in accordance with the instructions in the contract notice.
From 2.4.2014 the Government introduced its new Government Security Classifications Policy (GSC) to replace the previous Government Protective Marking Scheme. A key aspect of this is the reduction in the number of security classifications used. All suppliers to the Department are encouraged to make themselves aware of the changes as it may impact on this Requirement. The link below to the Gov.uk website provides information on the new GSC.
Contract HELSS/0102 is subject to DEFCON 658 (Edn 10/17) (Cyber) and Def Stan 05-138 (Cyber Security for Defence Suppliers). A Cyber Risk Assessment has been carried out by the Project Team and a risk level of Very Low has been identified (Reference: RAR-ETVD299U). In order for a supplier to demonstrate their compliance MOD has created Octavian (https://supplier-cyber-protection.service.gov.uk/). This is an online tool that enables suppliers to complete a supplier assurance questionnaire (SAQ). Further information on compliance to the Defence Cyber Protection Partnership can be found via the link https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/defence-cyber-protection-partnership
The Authority reserves the right to amend any condition related to security of information to reflect any changes in national law or government policy. If any contract documents are accompanied by instructions on safeguarding classified information (e.g. a Security Aspects Letter), the Authority reserves the right to amend the terms of these instructions to reflect any changes in national law or government policy, whether in respect of the applicable protective marking scheme, specific protective markings given, the aspects to which any protective marking applies, or otherwise.
Advertising Regime OJEU: This contract opportunity is published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), MoD Defence Contracts Bulletin and www.contracts.mod.uk
Suppliers must read through this set of instructions and follow the process to respond to this opportunity.

Eligibility requirements: As per the Pre Qualification Questionnaire.
As per the Pre Qualification Questionnaire. As per the Pre Qualification Questionnaire.