701480380 - Seafox Follow on Support Contract - TN UK 5

Procurement description

The Secretary of State for Defence (the Authority), through the Sonar and Maritime Sensors (SaMS) Project Team within Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), intends to place a 2-year contract, with an estimated total value of £12m (VAT inc), with TKMS Atlas UK Limited for the In-Service Support of the Seafox Mine Disposal System, which is used on Royal Navy Hunt and Sandown class ships as the Royal Navy’s (RN) primary means of identifying and disposing of maritime mines.

The Cyber risk profile for this requirement identified by the Cyber Security Model (CSM) Risk Assessment is Level 1 (foundational) - Risk Assessment Reference RAR-GZZPWDC.

Defence Equipment and Support

TKMS Atlas UK Ltd

Procedure type

Direct award

Description of how these justifications apply

It is considered that this contract can be awarded under Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 because the direct award justification specified in paragraph 6 of Schedule 5 (single supplier – technical reasons) applies.

This is because TKMS Atlas is licenced on an exclusive basis by its parent company TKMS GmbH, the Original Manufacturer (OEM) and Design Authority of the System, to have access to the System’s technical information, drawings and data. Without access to the OEM’s technical documents it would not be possible to meet the required technical and safety standards, including ensuring that the System functions and is integrated effectively and safely with other systems installed on the ships. To contract with another supplier would introduce an unacceptable level of technical, safety and security risk to the maintenance of a vital Royal Navy capability. There is no reasonable alternative.

Direct award justification

Single suppliers technical reasons

Is this procurement under a special regime?

Defence and security