Public procurement notice: Prior Information Notice Without Call For Competition
Published: 2019-10-31
Buyer: Ministry of Defence, Submarines, Submarine Programmes
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
CPV classification: 30215000 | 34152000 | 39162200 | 48000000 | 48100000
Estimated value:  GBP

Technical requirements: The successful bidder will be required to manage the Design, Manufacture, Installation and Acceptance into service of a range of Training Devices along with provision of associated Training media and courseware. Dreadnought Crew Training will be located at and form an integrated part of the Submarine Training Capability at Her Majesty’s Naval Base Clyde, with the potential for a satellite element at Barrow-In-Furness.
A Market Interest Day for all interested companies/organisations/consortia has been arranged for Thursday, 9 .1.2020 at The Defence Academy, Farringdon Road, Shrivenham, Swindon, SN6 8LA. The Market Interest Day relates to the Dreadnought Crew Training – Prime and Integrator. Attendees will hear about the strategic intent of this proposed competitive procurement, the prospective scope of the requirement and ask questions as part of an open Q&A session. They will also have an opportunity to meet the Project Team as well as other interested Dreadnought and Royal Navy stakeholders.
The Authority would like to invite companies/organisations/consortia, particularly including academic institutions and Small and Medium Enterprises interested in aligning with other companies/organisations/consortia, who wish to attend the Market Interest Day to email their registration to attend, using the contact details above, to be received by no later than Friday, 8.12.2019.
After registration the Contracting Authority will provide detailed arrangements for the day. There is capacity for up to 100 (one hundred) attendees so a maximum of 3 persons per organisation are permitted and it may be necessary to restrict the maximum numbers further depending on interest. An attendee list will be issued to all participants.
The Contracting Authority wishes to seek the market's views and understand the latest industry capabilities regarding the Prime and Integrator requirement. The Contracting Authority would also be interested to hear from organisations that may have innovative approaches or technology that could be applied to Dreadnought Crew Training. Furthermore, the Contracting Authority is interested in understanding the views of Small or Medium sized enterprise providers who may be able to provide some (if not all) of the services in the scope of the project described above.
Companies/organisations/consortia will be invited to provide feedback/comment after the event and requests for separate meetings between with the Contracting Authority and any interested company/organisation/consortia will be considered,
It is possible that companies/organisations/consortia who participate in separate meetings will be required to enter into non-disclosure undertakings with the Contracting Authority. Failure to enter into a standard Contracting Authority Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) will preclude participation in the one-to-one meetings.
It is currently anticipated that such discussions will take place during late January 2020 or possibly early February 2020.
Attendees are solely responsible for their costs and expenses incurred in connection with the preparation and attendance at the Market Interest Day and any subsequent one-to-one meeting(s), including any Travel and Subsistence. In issuing this PIN and engaging with the potential suppliers, the Contracting Authority is not committing to carry out any procurement in relation to the requirements stated in this PIN.
The Dreadnought class of ballistic submarines will replace the current Vanguard class of submarine in hosting the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Deterrent. This is the enduring commitment of the Navy’s dedication to Continuous At Sea Deterrence (CASD) since April 1969. Construction of the new class of boats has commenced and there is a requirement to ensure that crew training is stood up in sufficient time to ensure that there are trained crew available to assist with the commissioning of the first boat of this class, Dreadnought.
Training is a fundamental element of any military operational capability, such that it makes up one of the Defence Lines of Development (DLoD). The Dreadnought programme requires a training solution in place that will support the various test and commissioning milestones as well as delivery of a Suitably Qualified and Experienced Person (SQEP) crew to operate and maintain platforms through life. Dreadnought Crew Training team are looking to challenge the current Submarine training operating model using innovative approaches to optimise training pipelines. This will provide greater agility in training to deliver a dreadnought crew training force generation capability that contributes to CASD and integrates with wider submarine training via reconfigurable training systems.
The Prime and Integrator role will be to take the identified requirements provided by DSST and to develop the required training devices to deliver the system requirements. It is anticipated if may be necessary to provide some satellite Training Equipment’s which will be based in Barrow-in-Furness, which is where Dreadnought is being manufactured. The steady state training facilities are required to be installed at HMNB Clyde, generally within the Future Submarine School.
Dreadnought Crew Training Prime and Integrator will start in Q2 2021. The Contracting Authority welcomes companies/organisations/consortia with expertise in delivery of innovative solutions to all aspects of training including provision or equipment and equipment support.
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. The link below to the Gov.uk website provides information on the Government Security Classification.
Advertising Regime OJEU: This contract opportunity is published in the Official Journal of the European Union (OJEU), the MoD Defence Contracts Bulletin and www.contracts.mod.uk