Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2017-09-14
Buyer: Ministry of Defence, Land Equipment, Dismounted Close Combat (DCC)
Country: UK
Contract type: Supplies
Procedure: Restricted procedure
CPV classification: 35300000: Weapons, ammunition and associated parts
Estimated value: 1000000 GBP
Submission deadline: 2017-10-12
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: Weapons, ammunition and associated parts. The project will procure a shotgun weapon and ammunition to provide a shotgun system optimised for the end users with options to increase the shotgun capability and purchase further ammunition in the future, if needed. The contract is for the initial procurement of a minimum of 100 breaching shotguns and ammunition that are fit for purpose, and safe and suitable for service to be delivered by March 2019.
The project will procure a shotgun weapon and ammunition to provide a shotgun system optimised for the end users with options to increase the shotgun capability and purchase further ammunition in the future, if needed. Please note that this Notice revises and replaces the one previously published under our reference SSP/00200.
The change in this Notice from the one previously published (under SSP/00200) reflects the fact that current in-service ammunition is not suitable for use in a gas-operated semi-automatic shotgun and consequently the project now includes the procurement of initial batches of ammunition and the evaluation of the cost and performance of both the weapon and ammunition.
The shotgun must be capable of being used as a breaching device with 1 barrel and should be capable of changing its barrel and utilising other ammunition natures in order to be accurate at greater ranges. The shotgun will be bought initially as a breaching device with scope to add in additional capability at long range in the future dependent on need, however, the full capability of the shotgun system will be evaluated in the first instance. The shotgun system must be 12 gauge and be capable of firing a range of ammunition, be capable of holding at least 8 rounds and be semi-automatic. The natures of ammunition required are breaching (both standard and waterproof), slug and No 9 birdshot.
The contract is for the initial procurement of a minimum of 100 breaching shotguns and ammunition that are fit for purpose, and safe and suitable for service to be delivered by March 2019. It will also cover the purchasing of technical publications (in AESP format), a ‘train the trainer’ (T3) package, as well as an initial spares pack for agility in repairs and support during the training period. The contract will also include a provision for engineering support on a tasking Pro-Forma basis for the 3 years following delivery.
The contract will also include options to extend and purchase additional weapons including the longer range capability, ammunition natures and additional spares and support.
Bidders will need to provide 10 weapons and ammunition for user trials alongside their tender. Trials will test the full capability of the shotgun system, including ammunition. Tenderers will be given a nominal contribution towards the cost of the weapon systems and ammunition but it is expected the majority of trial weapons will be returned to bidders.
Suppliers will be down selected from the PQQ to 6 companies who will be invited to tender. Following the phase 1 paper based evaluation, a maximum of 3 bidders will be taken through to phase 2 user trials. The phase 1 evaluation is expected to be concluded by December 2017 and it is essential that bidders selected to participate in phase 2 trials will have the 10 weapons and ammunition available in the UK for the trials by the end of February 2018. Failure to make the weapons and ammunition available in time for the phase 2 trials will result in the bidder being excluded from further participation in the competition.
The Phase 2 trials will consist of User Trials using the 3 selected weapons using the supplied suite of ammunition, together with the current in service weapon using the current ammunition as a controlled baseline for the evaluation. Based on the outcome of the Phase 2 trials, the MOD will then invite a minimum of two bidders to participate in the Phase 3 trials. Should the scoring at the end of Phase 2 be within a range defined as close, then the MOD reserves the right to invite all 3 bidders to proceed to Phase 3.
The Phase 3 trials will consist of 2 elements, one of which will be S3 trials to establish the safety and reliability of the solution. In addition the MOD will revisit the User Trials by using all of the evaluated ammunition natures in each of the weapons, to provide assurance that the bidders initially recommended ammunition has produced the optimum results. Should the Phase 3 trial establish that a bidder's weapon has achieved a better performance with alternative ammunition, then the bidder's score will be adjusted. Should the use of the alternative ammunition degrade the performance of the weapon, the original results will be carried forward into the Phase 3 scoring. Should the outcome of the Phase 3 trial demonstrate that the best performing weapon and ammunition combination come from different suppliers, the MOD reserves the right to source these elements of the system from different bidders.
The Authority will apply all the offences listed in Article 39(1) of Directive 2009/81/EC  of the European Parliament and of the Council (implemented as Regulation 23(1) of the Defence and Security Public Contract Regulations (DSPCR) 2011 in the UK) and all of the professional misconducts listed at Article 39(2) of Directive 2009/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (see also Regulation 23(2) in the DSPCR 2011) to the decision of whether a Candidate is eligible to be invited to tender.
A full list of the Regulation 23(1) and 23(2) criteria are at http://www.contracts.mod.uk/delta/project/reasonsForExclusion.html#dspr
Candidates will be required to sign a declaration confirming whether they do or do not have any of the listed criteria as part of the pre-qualification process.
Candidates who have been convicted of any of the offences under Article 39(1) are ineligible and will not be selected to bid, unless there are overriding requirements in the general interest (including defence and security factors) for doing so.
Candidates who are guilty of any of the offences, circumstances or misconduct under Article 39(2) may be excluded from being selected to bid at the discretion of the Authority.