Engagement process description
06/11/2025 UPDATE FOR PROSPECTIVE RESPONDERS
Please note that the RFI 715675477 Amendment 5 is being issued to address a discrepancy in the due date specified in the original Request for Information.
Please be advised that the deadline for all responses has been officially extended.
The new definitive closing deadline for the RFI submission via the Microsoft Form is 14th November 2025 at 17:00 hrs.
All other terms and conditions of the Original RFI remain unchanged.
We apologise for any confusion or inconvenience this discrepancy may have caused and appreciate you continued interest and efforts.
30/10/2025 UPDATE FOR POTENTIAL BIDDERS
Please note that the CQ response log for this RFI has been updated and is a final document. Here is the link:
https://contracts.mod.uk/esop/toolkit/negotiation/tnd/tenderOpportunity.do?tenderCode=tender_508080&_ncp=1761810436209.1397709-1#:~:text=https%3A//contracts.mod.uk/esop/guest/go/opportunity/detail%3FopportunityId%3D60349
21/10/2025 UPDATE FOR POTENTIAL BIDDERS
Please note the CQ Log for this RFI has been updated, here is the link: https://contracts.mod.uk/esop/guest/go/opportunity/detail?opportunityId=60349
We reiterate that the Engagement Deadline is the 7th November and not 14th November.
16/10/2025 UPDATE FOR POTENTIAL BIDDERS
Link to Clarification Questions/Answers Log: https://contracts.mod.uk/esop/guest/go/opportunity/detail?opportunityId=60349
Please note that the Engagement Deadline is the 7th November and not 14th November.
The Microsoft Form will no longer accept responses after the 7th November.
RFI INDUSTRY – VANQUISH Technical Demonstration
Description
As part of the route to the Royal Navy’s Hybrid Air Wing, Project VANQUISH seeks to deliver a technical demonstration at sea of an attritable (Tier 2) Fixed Wing Short Take Off and Landing Autonomous Collaborative Platform (FW STOL ACP); nominal target date by the end of 2026, with options for delivery within an 18 month window from the target date also considered. The air vehicle must be able to embark and operate autonomously from a Queen Elizabeth Class (QEC) Aircraft Carrier and is to be jet turbine powered and capable of high subsonic speed. It should be able to launch and recover to QEC without Catapults or Arrested Recovery Systems and with a credible payload and endurance. There must be an exploitation pathway to the delivery of a wide range of maritime mission sets in support of UK Carrier Strike in due course (ISR/Strike/Air-Air Refuelling), to compliment F35B LIGHTNING, as part of QEC and its Carrier Air Wing.
Successful completion of a technical demonstration will inform future capability development and procurement options. This RFI is separate to, but coherent with, existing CSAEW RFI’s dated 9th & 22nd Apr 2025 and will aid understanding of cross cutting technologies which may assist both lines of development. It must be aligned with the principles of Maritime Aviation Transformation (MATX) and build on previous trials and demonstrations of ACPs from QEC.
To drive delivery of an optimal system, the MOD is issuing this Request for Information (RFI) to industry. The outcome of this RFI will inform the capability of the industrial base, in support this requirement. The implementation options in this RFI are not prescribed and we are interested in views from all interested parties on the best possible solution.
Please respond by completing the Microsoft Form in the link below by 17:00 on the 7 November 2025.
Link to RFI response form:
https://forms.office.com/e/8Npvind1de
Please send any clarification questions about this market engagement exercise to
Taiye.adeboye100@mod.gov.uk
Latest date to receive CQs is 24th October 2025 midday.
Where relevant and appropriate, this market engagement event may be followed by further engagement exercise which will be notified through normal channels (e.g. Defence Sourcing Portal, Find a Tender).
For the avoidance of doubt, this notice is not informing the market of an imminent procurement. All costs pertaining to the completion of this response are to be borne by the responders.
Please note, procurement dates and values in this notice are subject to governance and should not be viewed as a firm commitment. This RFI is purely to gain market knowledge and is not the launch of a new procurement. Pricing and timelines will be refined through market engagement, at this stage a cost of not less than £10m and a contract start date of between Jan and Apr 2026 is envisaged. Completion of this technical demonstration will result in the data and evidence generated being used to inform the maritime requirement for the prospective procurement of a FW ACP capability from the early 2030s.
Total value (estimated)
£10,000,000 excluding VAT
£12,000,000 including VAT
Above the relevant threshold
Contract dates (estimated)
1 Apr 2026 to 29 Dec 2027
20 months
Main procurement category
Goods / Service
CPV classifications
Uncrewed Aerial Systems (UAS) and associated payloads
Contract locations
UK - United Kingdom
Engagement
Engagement deadline
14 Nov 25