Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2016-01-30
Buyer: Ministry of Defence, Land Equipment, Armoured Vehicles Programmes — Artillery Systems Programme
Country: UK
Region: Telford and Wrekin
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 75220000: Civil defence services
Estimated value: 4800000 GBP

Technical requirements: UK Ministry of Defence, intends to negotiate a single source Contract with BAE Global Combat Systems Limited (BAES GCS) for a support arrangement contract for availability covering maintenance, repair and configuration management of the AS90 Howitzer platform for an estimated aggregate contract value of 4 800 000 GBP and for a period no longer than 10 months.
It is considered that this contract placement can be placed using the Negotiated Procedure without Prior Publication pursuant to Article 28(1) (e) of Directive 2009/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the UK Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011) for technical reasons reasons because BAES GCS have the necessary skills and knowledge of the AS90 Howitzer platform to be able to provide the equipment support services required by the UK Ministry of Defence. As the DA, BAES GCS have ownership of essential original drawings, associated technical data. BAES GCS are the only company that can combine maintenance and repair activities with the requirement for obsolescence management and solutions. Repair and maintenance tasks will be subject to post design and modifications. No other party has the necessary technical expertise and knowledge required to modify the equipment as the modifications cannot be undertaken without access to proprietary design information.
As the contracted DA, any modifications developed by a third party would, in any event, have to be underwritten by BAES GCS resulting in disproportionate technical and safety difficulties for the UK Ministry of Defence.
This notice is not a request for expressions of interest so please do not apply to be invited to tender. This notice advises that UK Ministry of Defence, is to negotiate a single source framework agreement with the named supplier, and this notice is published for reasons of transparency only. If you are interested in becoming a sub-contractor for this requirement, you should apply directly to the named supplier:
Andy Gibney, Commercial Manager — Light/Medium Vehicles and Artillery Systems, BAE Systems Land (UK).
Suppliers interested in working with the Ministry of Defence should register on the MOD Supplier Information Database (SID) Register, available at www.contracts.mod.uk The MOD SID is a database of active and potential suppliers available to all MOD and UK Defence procurement personnel, and is the main supplier database of MOD Procurement organisations. Please note the registration and publication of a company profile on the MOD SID does not mean or imply that the supplier has in any way been vetted or approved by the MOD. Suppliers wishing to compete for advertised MOD contracts must respond to any specific call for competition by submitting a separate expression of interest in accordance with the instructions of the purchasing organisation.
From 2.4.2014, the Government is introducing its new Government Security Classifications Policy (GSC) to replace the current Government Protective Marking Scheme. A key aspect of this is the reduction in the number of security classifications used. All suppliers to the Department are encouraged to make themselves aware of the changes as it may impact on this Requirement. The link below to the Gov.uk website provides information on the new GSC.
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.
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-2016128-DCB-7677051.