Public procurement notice: Prior Information Notice Without Call For Competition
Published: 2019-07-02
Buyer: Ministry of Defence, Land Equipment, Armoured Vehicles Programmes — Artillery Systems Programme
Country: UK
Contract type: Supplies
CPV classification: 35720000: Intelligence and surveillance systems

Technical requirements: The Army HQ Single Statement of User Need (SSUN) which Serpens will deliver against is: ‘The user requires and organic, responsive, persistent, protected and mobile suite of networked systems optimised to detect, acquire, track and assess adversary indirect fire threats at ranges available to peer opponents. These systems must be survivable on the modern battlefield, deployable with all land forces and linked autonomously to both future ISTAR architectures and effectors, in order to support effectively the counter fires battle within the warfighting division and the Light, Strike and Armoured Infantry Brigades.’
The main Users are 1 Arty Brigade and 1 ISR Brigade. The in service date for Serpens is 2026 with an anticipated out of service date of 2057.
This Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to inform the market of the Authority’s intention to procure the Serpens capability.
In issuing this PIN and engaging with the market, the Authority is not committing to carrying out any procurement in relation the requirements stated in this PIN. If third parties are interested in engaging with the Authority in relation to the requirements stated in this PIN they must do so without sharing information that is protected by copyright or patents.
Please register on the Serpens award portal where the Authority will be sharing information throughout the project. https://award.bravosolution.co.uk/serpens/web/project/101/register. Current information held on the portal includes a pictorial vision, Serpens information pack and draft key user requirements.
Serpens will deliver a digitally networked suite of sensor systems to detect hostile mortars, artillery and rockets within the Land Environment. It will comprise part of the wider Land Environment Tactical ISTAR (LE Tac ISTAR) capability (an Army programme in its own right) and from the outset will be conceived with clearly defined architectures to allow seamless operation within land, joint and NATO ISTAR constructs. It has key dependencies and interactions with: Land Environment Tactical CIS (LE Tac CIS), the primary voice and data bearer. ZODIAC, the future Land ISTAR architecture. Divisional Deep Fires Programme, the ability to strike deep targets with precision. Close Support Fires Programme, the provision of close fires to the Land Environment.
The existing weapon locating capabilities: Mobile Artillery Monitoring Battlefield Radar (MAMBA), Advanced Sound-ranging Post (ASP) and the Lightweight Counter Mortar Radar (LCMR) reach their OSD in 2026. Should they not be replaced, this will result in the loss of a significant target acquisition capability at a time when Land Forces require enhanced weapon locating sensors as part of the divisional counter fires battle.
Any interested party wishing to register their specific interest and capability in the proposed requirement as prime or a supplier should do so through the Award Portal https://award.bravosolution.co.uk/serpens/web/project/101/register. The Authority intend to hold initial engagements with industry between 15.7.2019 and 16.8.2019. Each company is entitled to 90 minutes with the Authority between this time. Any company who engages with the Authority after this time can request an engagement and the Authority will do their best to accommodate.
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 GO Reference: GO-2019628-DCB-15041164