Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Directive 2009/81/EC
Section I: Contracting
authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Ministry of Defence, Land Equipment, Special Projects SCM (SPSCM)
Abbey Wood
Bristol
BS34 8JH
UK
Contact person: Greg Bakewell
Telephone: +44 3067986729
E-mail: gregory.bakewell100@mod.gov.uk
NUTS: UKJ37
Internet address(es)
Main address: https://des.mod.uk/
I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local subdivisions
I.5) Main activity
Defence
Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title
FORMAL In Service Support Contract
II.1.2) Main CPV code
50000000
II.1.3) Type of contract
Services
II.1.4) Short description
This VTN is for an In-service support contract for the Formal platform. FORMAL is a Mini RCV. This contract consists of servicing and maintenance including an ad-hoc tasking mechanism. Formal has been in service since 2014 and supported by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (QinetiQ Ltd) since.
II.1.6) Information about lots
This contract is divided into lots:
No
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement
Value excluding VAT:
5 000 000.00
GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS code:
UKJ37
Main site or place of performance:
North Hampshire.
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
Options will be included in the Formal contract which will continue the service until the out of service date of 2027.
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:
Yes
Description of options:
Option years will be included on the Formal contract to be supported until their out of service date 2027.
II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds:
No
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice
Justification for selected award procedure:
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason: absence of competition for technical reasons
Explanation:
This VTN is for an in-service support contract for the Formal platform. Formal is a Mini RCV. This contract consists of servicing and maintenance including an ad-hoc tasking mechanism. Formal has been in service since 2014 and supported by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (QinetiQ Ltd) since.
The Special Projects Explosive Ordinance Disposal and Search (SPEOD&S) team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), intends to award an in-service support (ISS) contract to QinetiQ for up to 7 years for technical support, maintenance and repair of the Dragon Runner 20 (DR20) mini Remote Controlled Vehicle (mRCV), used on Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) operations. This contract will be 3.5-year fixed and then include 3 options totalling to 3.5 years of 1 x 24 months 1 x 12 months 1 x 6 months. This contract is anticipated for placement prior to 31 December 2020.
It is considered that this contract can be awarded to QinetiQ using the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice pursuant to Article 28 (1) (e) of the Directive 2009/81/EC (Regulation 16 (1)(a)(ii) of the UK Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011) for technical reasons. This is because QinetiQ is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) of the DR20 and as such is the only supplier to have access to the specific technical knowledge, drawings and information required to deliver support and repair to this capability.
QinetiQ have in-depth knowledge of the system and conduct regular in-depth repair which forms an essential part of the safety argument for the equipment. A DSP-5 license has been filed and approved with the US State Department, allowing QinetiQ North America (QNA) to submit technical data surrounding Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) testing & Radio Frequency (RF) performance to QinetiQ UK for the UK MoD only. These commodities are authorised by the US Government for licenced end use by the UK MoD Only. The DSP-5 licence prevents the reselling, diversion or transfer of this technical information to any other persons or suppliers. This technical data forms parts of the Safety Argument for the UK DR20 system and as such cannot be provided to any third party for purposes of tender.
QinetiQ hold extensive technical knowledge which is required to maintain and service the mRCV safely. Articles required for the repair and maintenance of the system are not licenced to be provided to third parties. Another contractor would only be able to meet this requirement with access to all the relevant documentation which is currently held by QinetiQ and which QinetiQ have no contractual obligation to provide. Reverse engineering by another contractor would be impractical and result in a huge upfront investment prior to the bidding stage. There are also technical limitations on this in that given the age of the system it would be difficult to obtain specifications on many of the components are they will now be obsolete.
IV.1.8) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement:
No
Section V: Award of contract/concession
V.2 Award of contract/concession
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession
01/07/2020
V.2.2) Information about tenders
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators:
No
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
QinetiQ Ltd
Farnborough
GU14 0LX
UK
Telephone: +44 1252395443
E-mail: SJSCOTT@qinetiq.com
NUTS: UKJ37
The contractor is an SME:
No
V.2.4) Information on value of the concession and main financing terms (excluding VAT)
Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot/concession: 5 000 000.00 GBP
Total value of the concession/lot:
5 000 000.00
GBP
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
Section VI: Complementary information
VI.3) Additional information
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.
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/government-security-classifications
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-202076-DCB-16798016
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Ministry of Defence, Land Equipment, Special Projects SCM (SPSCM)
Abbey Wood
Bristol
BS34 8JH
UK
Telephone: +44 3067986729
E-mail: gregory.bakewell100@mod.gov.uk
VI.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures
Ministry of Defence, Land Equipment, Special Projects SCM (SPSCM)
Bristol
UK
Telephone: +44 3067986729
E-mail: gregory.bakewell100@mod.gov.uk
VI.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained
Ministry of Defence, Land Equipment, Special Projects SCM (SPSCM)
Bristol
UK
Telephone: +44 3067986729
E-mail: gregory.bakewell100@mod.gov.uk
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice
06/07/2020