CONTRACT NOTICE FOR CONTRACTS IN THE FIELD OF DEFENCE AND SECURITY

Section I: Contracting Authority

I.1)

Name, Address and Contact Point(s)

I.2)

Type of contracting Authority and Main Activity or Activities

Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions National or federal agency/Office Regional or local Authority Regional or local Agency/Office Body governed by public law European Institution/Agency or International Organisation

General public services Defence Public order and safety Environment Economic and financial affairs Health Housing and community amenities Social protection Recreation, culture and religion Education

Section II: Object of the Contract

II.1)

Description

II.1.1)

Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority

II.1.2)

Type of service contract

Main site or location of works, place of delivery or performance

Bristol

II.1.3)

Information on framework agreement

The notice involves the establishment of a framework agreement

II.1.4)

Information on framework agreement (if applicable)

	Framework agreement with a single operators
	Framework agreement with several operators

Number of participants to the framework agreement envisaged

Duration of the framework agreement

Justification for a framework agreement the duration of which exceeds seven years

Estimated total value of purchases for the entire duration of the framework agreement

Frequency and value of the contracts to be awarded

II.1.5)

Short description of the contract or purchase(s)

Project AETHER (Identification of systems that can perform Ultra-Persistent Wide Area Communications with Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance)

The Contracting Authority has a developing requirement to demonstrate Ultra-Persistent Wide Area Communications with Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance using Stratospheric Uncrewed Air Systems that can be rapidly manoeuvred to an area of interest that is anywhere in the world.

The Contracting Authority requires a capability that can be rapidly manoeuvred to any area of interest in the world to provide ultra-persistent wide-area communications in addition to Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance. The information must be available in near real time and be exploited using a range of existing resources. The capability must be on task for several months at a time with minimal resupply or maintenance effort.

The Authority intends to invite all eligible companies who pass the PQQ to tender for the Framework. Note that while there is no down-selection to any specific numbers of bidders at this stage, only companies who can demonstrate relevance to the subject matter of the lots within the Framework through their previous or existing portfolio of work (of which examples are requested via the PQQ) will pass the PQQ and be considered eligible to receive an Invitation to Tender at the next stage of the competition. Potential bidders may bid to join a single lot or multiple lots. Please provide evidence in a maximum of 4 sides of A4 per lot.

As with any framework, whilst there can be no guarantee of any particular quantity of work being put through it, the Authority intends to conduct further mini-competitions to select successful framework contractors or collaborative teams of framework contractors within individual lots or across a number of Lots in any combination, and expects that the work will be conducted progressively in spirals giving ongoing opportunities to many of the framework participants.

The lots will include, but may not be limited to, the following subject matter themes:

• Platform – a rapidly deployable uncrewed platform capable of working at stratospheric altitudes to carry out uninterrupted ISR activities

• Payload – capable of being fitted to a platform to carry out uninterrupted and secure ISR activities and communications over an extended period of time

• Integrator – to oversee the integration of the payload onto a platform to enable the processing, exploitation and dissemination of information

• Customer Advisory Network (may include but not be limited to assurance, operationalisation, third party security testing, testing and evaluation).

• Optional lot – Fully accredited air system (including payload).

The Authority must ensure that where access is required to classified information in the course of any tasking or Working Group activity, then this access will only be granted to framework participants with suitable security clearance in place at the time a task is raised. Whilst a particular level of security clearance is not essential for initial entry to the framework following the Invitation to Tender process, the Authority reserves the right to refuse inclusion of any framework participant who does not possess the required clearance level at the time a mini-competition for a task is initiated or a classified Working Group is scheduled.

IPR will be discussed on a task by task basis but the Authority would expect to take ownership of Trials & Demonstrations results and raw data (use of DEFCON 703/705).

All framework participants will be kept updated with progress of this project on a quarterly basis subject to security caveats. Once the PQQ phase has been completed and we move to ITT stage an event will be held in order to discuss the requirement and future direction.

Please note this framework will be initially for up to 2 years from publication of this PQQ and pending future approvals, the framework would be re-opened on a 12 monthly basis.

The Cyber Risk Assessment code is DCPP- RAR-406930362 and has been rated as Moderate Risk.

II.1.6)

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

II.1.7)

Information about subcontracting

	The tenderer has to indicate in the tender any share of the contract it may intend to subcontract to third parties and any proposed subcontractor, as well as the subject-matter of the subcontracts for which they are proposed.
	The tenderer has to indicate any change occurring at the level of subcontractors during the execution of the contract.
	The contracting authority/entity may oblige the successful tenderer to award all or certain subcontracts through the procedure set out in Title III of Directive 2009/81/EC.
	The successful tenderer is obliged to specify which part or parts of the contract it intends to subcontract beyond the required percentage and to indicate the subcontractors already identified.
	The successful tenderer is obliged to subcontract the following share of the contract through the procedure set out in Title III of Directive 2009/81/EC: minimum percentage: (%), maximum percentage: (%) of the value of the contract. (The maximum percentage may not exceed 30% of the value of the contract)

II.1.8)

Division into lots

one lot only

one or more lots

all lots

II.1.9)

Will variants be accepted

II.2)

Quantity or Scope of the Contract

II.2.1)

Total quantity or scope

II.2.2)

Information about options

Provisional timetable for recourse to these options

II.2.3)

Information about renewals

II.3)

Duration of the contract or limit for completion

Section III: Legal, Economic, Financial and Technical Information

III.1)

Conditions Relating to the Contract

III.1.1)

Deposits and guarantees required

III.1.2)

Main Terms of financing and payment and/or reference to the relevant provisions

III.1.3)

Legal form to be taken by the grouping of suppliers, contractors or service providers to whom the contract is to be awarded

III.1.4)

Other particular conditions to which the performance of the contract is subject

Appropriate security clearance will be notified as a pre-condition of certain tasks.

III.1.5)

Information about security clearance

III.2)

Conditions for Participation

III.2.1)

Personal situation

Suppliers Instructions How to Express Interest in this Tender:

1. Register your company on the eSourcing portal (this is only required once)

- Browse to the eSourcing Portal

- Click the “Click here to register” link

- Accept the terms and conditions and click “continue”

- Enter your correct business and user details

- Note the username you chose and click “Save” when complete

- You will shortly receive an email with your unique password (please keep this secure)

2. Express an Interest in the tender

- Login to the portal with the username/password

- Click the "PQQs Open to All Suppliers" link. (These are Pre-Qualification Questionnaires open to any registered supplier)

- Click on the relevant PQQ to access the content.

- Click the “Express Interest” button in the “Actions” box on the left-hand side of the page.

- This will move the PQQ into your “My PQQs” page. (This is a secure area reserved for your projects only)

- Click on the PQQ code, you can now access any attachments by clicking the “Settings and Buyer Attachments” in the “Actions” box

3. Responding to the tender

- You can now choose to “Reply” or “Reject” (please give a reason if rejecting)

- You can now use the ‘Messages’ function to communicate with the buyer and seek any clarification

- Note the deadline for completion, then follow the onscreen instructions to complete the PQQ

- There may be a mixture of online & offline actions for you to perform (there is detailed online help available)

If you require any further assistance please consult the online help, or contact the eTendering help desk.

Suppliers Instructions How to Express Interest in this Tender:

1. Register your company on the eSourcing portal (this is only required once)

- Browse to the eSourcing Portal

- Click the “Click here to register” link

- Accept the terms and conditions and click “continue”

- Enter your correct business and user details

- Note the username you chose and click “Save” when complete

- You will shortly receive an email with your unique password (please keep this secure)

2. Express an Interest in the tender

- Login to the portal with the username/password

- Click the "PQQs Open to All Suppliers" link. (These are Pre-Qualification Questionnaires open to any registered supplier)

- Click on the relevant PQQ to access the content.

- Click the “Express Interest” button in the “Actions” box on the left-hand side of the page.

- This will move the PQQ into your “My PQQs” page. (This is a secure area reserved for your projects only)

- Click on the PQQ code, you can now access any attachments by clicking the “Settings and Buyer Attachments” in the “Actions” box

3. Responding to the tender

- You can now choose to “Reply” or “Reject” (please give a reason if rejecting)

- You can now use the ‘Messages’ function to communicate with the buyer and seek any clarification

- Note the deadline for completion, then follow the onscreen instructions to complete the PQQ

- There may be a mixture of online & offline actions for you to perform (there is detailed online help available)

If you require any further assistance please consult the online help, or contact the eTendering help desk.

III.2.2)

Economic and financial standing

III.2.3)

Technical and/or professional capacity

III.2.4)

Reserved contracts

	The contract is restricted to sheltered workshops
	The execution of the contract is restricted to the framework of sheltered employment programmes

Section IV: Procedure

IV.1)

Type of Procedure

IV.1.1)

Type of Procedure

	Restricted
	Accelerated restricted
	Negotiated
	Accelerated negotiated
	Competitive dialogue

Justification for the choice of accelerated procedure

IV.1.2)

Limitations on the number of operators who will be invited to tender or to participate

Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates

IV.1.3)

Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue

Recourse to staged procedure to gradually reduce the number of solutions to be discussed or tenders to be negotiated

IV.2)

Award Criteria

IV.2.2)

An electronic auction will be used

IV.3 Administrative Information

IV.3.1)

Reference number attributed to the notice by the contracting authority

702308451

IV.3.2)

Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract

	Prior Information Notice
	Notice on a Buyer Profile

Other previous publications

IV.3.3)

Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents

IV.3.4)

Time-limit for requests to participate

IV.3.5)

Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates

IV.3.6)

Language or languages in which tenders or requests to participate can be drawn up

Section VI: Complimentary Information

VI.1)

Indicate whether this procurement is a recurrent one and the Estimated timing for further notices to be published

VI.2)

Does the contract relate to a Project/Programme financed by Community Funds?

VI.3)

Additional Information

The Contracting Authority intends to use an e-Tendering system in this procurement exercise, please visit www.contracts.mod.uk for full details and to register your interest in this procurement.

VI.4)

Procedures for appeal

VI.4.1)

Body responsible for appeal procedures

Body responsible for mediation procedures

VI.4.2)

Lodging of appeals
Precise information on deadline(s) for lodging appeals:

VI.4.3)

Service from which information about the lodging of appeals may be obtained

VI.5)

Dispatch date of this Notice

ANNEX B

Information About Lots

1)

Short Description

2)

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

3)

Quantity or scope

4)

Indication about different contract dates

5)

Additional Information about lots

The Contracting Authority intends to use an e-Tendering system in this procurement exercise, please visit www.contracts.mod.uk for full details and to register your interest in this procurement.