Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2020-11-10
Buyer: Ministry of Defence, ISTAR, Air ISTAR
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Contract award without prior publication
CPV classification: 75221000: Military defence services
Estimated value: 4331000 GBP
Award criteria: The most economic tender

Technical requirements: The Situational Awareness Command and Control (SACC) Team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (the Authority), intends to place a contract amendment for the provision of an asset availability service and post design services for UK MoD Link 16 Terminals with Data Link Solutions LLC (the Contractor) for a period of 2 years. The Contractor is the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the Link 16 Tactical Data Link Terminals (comprising JTIDS Class II, MIDS LVT and AN/URC-138 Terminals) and supporting equipment, all of which are complex electronic units, containing both programmable (software) and cryptographic devices. The service required by the Ministry of Defence (repair, maintenance and modification) can only be performed by Data Link Solutions LLC because only they hold the technical information, tools and know-how necessary to perform the service.
The Situational Awareness Command and Control (SACC) Team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (the Authority), intends to place a contract amendment for the provision of an asset availability service and post design services for UK MoD Link 16 Terminals with Data Link Solutions LLC (the Contractor) for a period of 2 years. This will be an extension to the current contract (SACC/00044) due to expire 30 November 2021. The contract amendment will have a value of GBP 4 331 000 ex VAT.
It is considered that this requirement can be placed using the negotiated procedure without prior publication pursuant to Article 28(1)(e) of Directive 2009/81/EC (Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011) for technical reasons.
This is because the Contractor is the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) of the Link 16 Tactical Data Link Terminals (comprising JTIDS Class II, MIDS LVT and AN/URC-138 Terminals) and supporting equipment, all of which are complex electronic units, containing both programmable (software) and cryptographic devices. The service required by the Ministry of Defence (repair, maintenance and modification) can only be performed by Data Link Solutions LLC because only they hold the technical information, tools and know-how necessary to perform the service. The contract cannot be performed without access to that information. Furthermore, no licences have been granted to any party, including the authority, to obtain the drawings, specifications, etc. for the Link 16 Tactical Data Link Terminals, as such the Contractor is the only supplier capable of providing the required support to the existing systems.
It is considered that only the Contractor has the technical expertise at its disposal, including the know-how and system specifications to support the asset availability service for UK MoD Link 16 Terminals.
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


Winner: Data Link Solutions LLS
Award value: 4331000