Public procurement notice: Voluntary Ex Ante Transparency Notice
Published: 2018-04-17
Buyer: Ministry of Defence, Ships, Communications and Situational Awareness (CSA)
Country: UK
Contract type: Services
Procedure: Negotiated without a prior call for competition
CPV classification: 35125100: Sensors
Estimated value: 1000000 GBP

Technical requirements: United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (the “Authority”) intends to place a contract with BAE Systems Surface Ships Limited (company number 06160534) (the “Company”) for In-Service Support for Ships Sensors and Monitoring Systems (SSAMS) equipment fitted to the Royal Navy’s Type 45 Destroyers and Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers.
2— The planned term of the contract is for 9 months, for the period 25.6.2018 to 24.3.2019. The estimated value of this contract over 9 months is 1 000 000 GBP (one Million Pounds Sterling).
3— The contract will cover spares, repairs, technical support and on-board technical assistance for the following systems:
— the Meteorological and Oceanographic (METOC) System fitted to the Royal Navy’s Type 45 Destroyers and Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers is a safety critical system essential to enable the vessels and their organic air assets to operate safely and comply with Legislative requirements,
— the Air Group Management Application (AGMA) System fitted to the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers supports the daily management, movement and situational awareness of the QEC aircraft operations,
— the Visual Surveillance System (VSS) fitted to the Royal Navy’s Queen Elizabeth Class Carriers provides a remote viewing capability around the ship.
The systems are essential to enable the vessels and aircraft operating from them to operate safely and comply with legislative requirements.
4— The authority considers that this contract can be placed using the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice pursuant to Article 28(1)(e) of Directive 2009/81/EC and Regulation Reg 16(1)(a)(ii) of the defence and security public contracts Regulations 2011 for technical reasons.
a— The full support of METOC, AGMA and VSS systems is reliant upon the company’s knowledge as the design authority for the original design, manufacture and integration phases; and the comprehension and learning acquired through delivery of systems integration throughout the ships architecture that included use of proprietary rigs and tooling. In consequence, the information necessary to effect repairs and provide technical support and advice for the systems rests solely with the company.
b— Overall configuration control of software, system architecture and hardware must be strictly and effectively managed, to ensure the system elements remain correctly integrated and interoperable, precluding the sub-division of support of software and hardware support for each system. For the reasons set out in paragraph 4a, only the company will be able to meet these requirements.
5— This VEAT Notice is not a request for Expressions of Interest (EoI) so please do not apply to be invited to tender. This notice advises that the Authority has decided to negotiate a contract with the named supplier on a single source basis, and is published for reasons of transparency. If you are interested in becoming a sub-contractor for this requirement, you should apply directly to the company named above.
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-2018413-DCB-12224296


Winner: BAE Systems Surface Ships Limited
Award value: 1000000