Public procurement notice: Contract Notice
Published: 2020-09-22
Buyer: Ministry of Defence, Land Equipment, Training and Simulation Systems Programme (TSSP)
Country: UK
Contract type: Supplies
Procedure: Negotiated procedure
CPV classification: 35700000: Military electronic systems | 35740000 | 72317000: Data storage services | 80660000
Estimated value:  GBP
Submission deadline: 2020-11-30
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: Battle simulators, military electronic systems, data storage services, training and simulation in military electronic systems, training and simulation in military electronic systems, military electronic systems, battle simulators, data storage services. The Army Headquarters Single Statement of User Need (SSUN) which VULCAN Ground Manoeuvre Synthetic Trainer (GMST) will deliver against is: ‘VULCAN seeks to establish a comprehensive simulator system to satisfy individual (driver, gunner, commander) and crew training for MIV, WCSP and CR2 LEP+ and planned, both technically and commercially, to exploit emerging technology and expand to other vehicle fleets over time.’
Vulcan will deliver simulated driver, commander and gunner training for WR CSP, CR2 LEP+ and MIV, via a coherent pan-platform simulation systems architecture. It will replace the planned single platform crew training simulation solutions for WCSP, MIV and CR2LEP and extend the driving simulation capability to all three fleets. Model crew stations will enable individual teaching and testing in a classroom, through to integrated crew level training at troop/platoon level (max four vehicles). The equipment design should enable company/squadron level training if additional infrastructure and network connectivity is provided. An open systems architecture and templated hardware profiles to support rapid reconfiguration and future exploitation will enable the core software to be re-used in crew training for other platforms. Simulation will enable realistic and complex training that cannot be conducted live on the UK training estate, thus maintaining operational effectiveness. Its approach will be evolutionary and will exploit the essential features of the in-service Armoured Vehicle Training Aids (AVTA) which have been developed over time to assist instructors in delivering consistent standards of training whether it is centralised at ARMCEN or distributed in the Field Army.
It is anticipated that the initial contract duration shall run for 5 years from March 2022 until end of March 2027. Also, that the Authority shall have irrevocable options to extend the contract up to a further two 5 year until end of March 2032 and March 2037 respectively. It is our intent to increase the scope of VULCAN in the future with envisaged integration of simulators for additional vehicles.
In issuing this contract notice and engaging with the market, the authority is not committing to carrying out any procurement in relation to the requirements stated in this notice. If third parties are interested in engaging with the authority in relation to the req
(a) Outcome 1: delivery of training simulators for use in technical training of armoured vehicle crews, providing individual (driver, gunner, commander) and crew training, for MIV, WCSP and CR2 LEP+;
(c) Outcome 3: generate an adaptable and scalable system architecture to allow for expansion to additional vehicle platforms.
(b) an evolutionary approach to gunnery training simulation will resolve obsolescence of the in-service systems;
(c) generation of an adaptable and scalable system architecture will reduce the cost of developing simulation training for other vehicle platforms in the future;
(f) an increase in the depth of training on offer through the simulation of a broad range of environments and conditions;
The project is responsible for the coherent delivery of the project and workstream outputs, ensuring the Field Army and training establishments are ready to make the required changes and ensuring the necessary business as usual inputs are in place.
1) The other training aids that are funded within the training DLODs of the platform programme boards:
VULCAN will comply with The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 (SDSR 15), Defence Policy for Simulation, Defence Strategic Direction, Defence Training and Education Coherence (DTEC), Systems of Systems Approach (SOSA) and Training Education Architecture (Land) (TEA(L)).
It is currently envisaged that a single contract will be awarded for the provision of equipment, contractor logistics support (CLS), post design services (PDS) and provision of a training facilitation team for up to Level C Collective Training.
The system shall facilitate the execution and real-time management of the synthetic environment and training events and also provide the ability to review each training event, enabling near real-time feedback for trainees.
In-service support covering areas such as technical support, system modification and integration, simulation and modelling, security administration, system maintenance and repair, inventory management, configuration management, obsolescence management and system design management will be required.

Eligibility requirements: (a) Appropriate statements from the economic operator's bankers or where appropriate, evidence of relevant professional risk indemnity insurance. Evidence of appropriate professional risk indemnity; at least 2 years certified audited accounts in statutory form, profit and loss account and balance sheet; statement of overall turnover to be provided with DPQQ. A financial assessment will be undertaken on the supplier’s financial status. An overall pass/fail judgement will be made after considering areas such as turnover, profit, net assets, liquidity, gearing and capacity. This assessment will include the parent company where applicable. An independent financial assessment obtained from a reputable credit rating organisation will be utilised as part of this process.
The estimated average annual contract value is GBP 8-10 million. If the estimated average annual contract value is greater than 40 % of the supplier’s turnover, the authority reserves the right to exclude the supplier from being selected to tender except where the supplier provides, to the satisfaction of the authority, evidence showing it has sufficient economic and financial capability, e.g. such evidence may include: 1) any additional information proving it has sufficient economic and financial resources to deliver the requirement; and 2) state whether the supplier is willing to provide the Authority with an indemnity, guarantee or bank bond. A financial assessment will be undertaken on the supplier’s financial status. An overall pass/fail judgement will be made after considering areas such as turnover, profit, net assets, liquidity, gearing and capacity. This assessment will include the parent company where applicable. An independent financial assessment obtained from a reputable credit rating organisation will be utilised as part of this process.
(a) appropriate statements from the economic operator's bankers or where appropriate, evidence of relevant professional risk indemnity insurance; (b) the presentation of balance-sheets or extracts from the balance-sheets, where publication of the balance-sheet is required under the law of the country in which the economic operator is established; (c) where appropriate, a statement, covering the three previous financial years of the economic operator, of: (i) the overall turnover of the business of the economic operator; and (ii) where appropriate, the turnover in respect of the work, works, goods or services which are of a similar type to the subject matter of the contract. Evidence of appropriate professional risk indemnity; at least 2 years certified audited accounts in statutory form, profit and loss account and balance sheet; statement of overall turnover to be provided with DPQQ. A financial assessment will be undertaken on the supplier’s financial status. An overall pass/fail judgement will be made after considering areas such as turnover, profit, net assets, liquidity, gearing and capacity. This assessment will include the parent company where applicable. An independent financial assessment obtained from a reputable credit rating organisation will be utilised as part of this process.
The authority reserves the right to exclude the supplier from being selected to tender except where the supplier provides, to the satisfaction of the authority, evidence showing it has sufficient economic and financial capability, e.g. such evidence may include: 1) any additional information proving it has sufficient economic and financial resources to deliver the requirement; and 2) state whether the supplier is willing to provide the authority with an indemnity, guarantee or bank bond. A financial assessment will be undertaken on the supplier’s financial status. An overall pass/fail judgement will be made after considering areas such as turnover, profit, net assets, liquidity, gearing and capacity. This assessment will include the parent company where applicable. An independent financial assessment obtained from a reputable credit rating organisation will be utilised as part of this process.
(c) a statement of the principal goods sold or services provided by the supplier or the services provider in the past 5 years or during a shorter period if necessary, and: (i) the dates on which the goods were sold or the services provided; (ii) the consideration received; (iii) the identity of the person to whom the goods were sold or the service were provided; (iv) any certificate issued or countersigned by that person confirming the details of the contract for those goods sold or services provided; and (v) where: — that person was not a contracting authority, and — the certificate referred to in sub-paragraph (c)(iv) is not available, any declaration by the economic operator attesting the details of the goods sold or services provided; (m) in the case of contracts involving, entailing or containing classified information, evidence of the ability to process, store and transmit such information at the level of protection required by the contracting authority; (o) any other evidence of conformity to quality management systems standards which are equivalent to the standards referred to in subparagraph (n)(i). This and any other information required for evaluation will be sought through the associated dynamic pre-qualification questionnaire (DPPQ). The main contractor will be required to provide evidence of its subcontractor’s ability to process, store and transmit classified information at UK Official. The authority reserves the right under Article 21(5) of Directive 2009/81/EC to reject any subcontractor chosen by the main contractor at any stage of the contract award procedure or during performance of the contract if that subcontractor: 1) requires access to classified information at UK Official; and 2) fails to provide evidence to the satisfaction of the Authority that it has the capability to protect that level of classified information in accordance with Article 42.1(j) of Directive 2009/81/EC.
(c) a statement of the principal goods sold or services provided by the supplier or the services provider in the past 5 years or during a shorter period if necessary, and: (i) the dates on which the goods were sold or the services provided; (ii) the consideration received; (iii) the identity of the person to whom the goods were sold or the service were provided; (iv) any certificate issued or countersigned by that person confirming the details of the contract for those goods sold or services provided; and (v) where: — that person was not a contracting authority, and — the certificate referred to in sub-paragraph (c)(iv) is not available, any declaration by the economic operator attesting the details of the goods sold or services provided; (m) in the case of contracts involving, entailing or containing classified information, evidence of the ability to process, store and transmit such information at the level of protection required by the contracting authority; (o) any other evidence of conformity to quality management systems standards which are equivalent to the standards referred to in subparagraph (n)(i). This and any other information required for evaluation will be sought through the associated dynamic pre-qualification questionnaire (DPPQ). The main contractor will be required to provide evidence of its subcontractor’s ability to process, store and transmit classified information at UK Official.
The authority reserves the right under Article 21(5) of Directive 2009/81/EC to reject any subcontractor chosen by the main contractor at any stage of the contract award procedure or during performance of the contract if that subcontractor: 1) requires access to classified information at UK Official; and 2) fails to provide evidence to the satisfaction of the Authority that it has the capability to protect that level of classified information in accordance with Article 42.1(j) of Directive 2009/81/EC.
The main contractor will be required to provide evidence of its subcontractor’s ability to process, store and transmit classified information at UK Official by describing the required facility security clearance (FSC) granted by its national or designated security authority.
The authority reserves the right under Article 21(5) of Directive 2009/81/EC to reject any subcontractor chosen by the main contractor at any stage of the contract award procedure or during performance of the contract if that subcontractor: 1) requires access to classified information at UK Official; and 2) fails to provide evidence to the satisfaction of the authority that it has the capability to protect that level of classified information in accordance with Article 42.1(j) of Directive 2009/81/EC.