Defence Online

Type of document: Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Country: United Kingdom
OJEU Ref: (2017/S 118-238516/EN)
Nature of contract: Service contract
Procedure: Award of a contract without prior publication
Regulation of procurement: EU
Type of bid required: Not applicable

Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Services
Directive 2009/81/EC

Directive 2009/81/EC

Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Official name: Ministry of Defence, Ships, Communications and Situational Awareness (CSA)
Town: Bristol
Country: United Kingdom
Email: DESShipsComrcl-MCS-CI-2a1b@mod.uk
Nuts code: UKJ1
Internet address(es):
Main address:

I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions
I.5) Main activity
Defence

Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title: PDM Support.
II.1.2) Main CPV code: 34933000
II.1.3) Type of contract Services
II.1.4) Short Description:
12 month extension of CSA/4006 which covers in service support and tech refresh activities.
II.1.6) Information about lots
The contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement(excluding VAT)
Value:619000
Currency:GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code: UKJ1 Main site or place of performance:Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire.

II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (the ‘Authority’) intends to amend a contract with Ultra Electronics Limited (the ‘Company’) to include additional PDM2 Tech Refresh design and to provide an additional 12 month extension to the current CSA/4006 contract to provide both engineering and inventory support for the management of in service PDM Series Equipment. This is required to deliver the requisite Quality of Service to interfacing systems and to ensure Operational Capability is optimised.

II.2.5) Award criteria
II.2.11) Information about options
Options: no
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
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the Official Journal of the European Union in the cases listed below
(please complete point 2 of the Annex D)
IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement(GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: yes
IV.2) Administrative information

Section V: Award of contract/concession
V.2) Award of contract/concession
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession award decision:2016-12-12
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
Official name: Ultra Electronics Limited
Town: Loudwater
Country: United Kingdom
Nuts code: UKJ1
The contractor is an SME: no

V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession(excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot/concession:619000
Currency:GBP
for framework agreements – total maximum value for this lot
for contracts based on framework agreements, if required – value of contract(s) for this lot not included in
previous contract award notices

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.

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-2017619-DCB-10453833.
VI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Official name: Ministry of Defence, Ships, Communications and Situational Awareness (CSA)
Town: Bristol
Country: United Kingdom

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
2017-06-19

Other justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a call for competition
in the Official Journal of the European Union
The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the directive

3.Explanation
Please explain in a clear and comprehensive manner why the award of the contract without prior publication in the Official Journal of the European Union
is lawful, by stating the relevant facts and, as appropriate, the conclusions of law in accordance with the directive:
It is considered that this contract can be amended using the negotiated procedure without prior publication pursuant to Article 28(1)(e) of Directive 2009/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council (Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011) for technical reasons.
This is because:
a. Technical complexity of the PDM2 TR solution: PDM would qualify as ‘particularly complex equipment’. The Tech Refresh solution comprises of 5 000 bespoke drawings, specifications and manufactured parts. As a result, the MDP is large and very difficult to comprehend without a working knowledge of the full PDM2 TR design. The experience UECCS acquired during development of the solution cannot be fully replicated in a technical pack and that, without expert knowledge of the equipment and TR design that an alternative supplier would be unable to manufacture, assemble and install the equipment without unacceptable risk to the Authority.
b. Technical expertise/know-how — PDM2 TR Installation/Integration and In service Support: It was considered from the outset that only UECCS possess the technical expertise, including the know-how, which is necessary to develop the PDM2 TR solution. This is derived from their experience as the OEM, Design Authority, and maintainer throughout PDMs 30+ year history and more recently as the Design Authority for the PDM2 TR solution. Failure to provide contractual cover for the additional 12 months would also result in a serious risk in the supporting of the capability PDM series provides through a lack of technical expertise held only by the company.
Software/Firmware: The PDM system is heavily dependent on software, including firmware, to operate and software forms a significant proportion of the Tech Refresh design. The software used includes D3 Assembler, the PDM Real Time Operating System (RTOS) and Harmony (software development tool) which were developed by UECCS (and their predecessors) specifically for PDM in the 1980’s. No other supplier has the knowledge or experience to work with D3 Assembler which is a key software requirement of the PDM2 TR solution. It is possible that RTOS and Harmony were originally based on COTS solutions and capability may not rest solely with UECCS. It is considered that no other supplier has the working knowledge of the software as a whole to successfully undertake the PDM2 TR solution.