Defence Online

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2021/S 000-024379/EN)
Nature of contract:
Procedure: Not applicable

Contract notice

Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name addresses and contact point(s):
Ministry of Defence
Future Capabilities Group, Spruce 2B, #1261, MOD Abbey Wood
Bristol
Postal code: BS34 8JH
United Kingdom
Contact points(s): DES FCG Commercial
For the attention of: Sophie Spiring
Email: Sophie.Spiring100@mod.gov.uk
Further information can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)
Specifications and additional documents (including documents for competitive dialogue and a dynamic purchasing system) can be obtained from: The above mentioned contact point(s)
Tenders or requests to participate must be sent to: The above mentioned contact point(s)
I.2) Type of the contracting authority:
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions
I.3) Main activity:
Defence
I.4) Contract award on behalf of other contracting authorities/entities:
The contracting authority is purchasing on behalf of other contracting authorities: No
Section II: Object of the contract:
II.1) Description:
II.1.1) Title attributed to the contract by the contracting authority/entity: Connectivity of Disparate Remote Autonomous Systems
II.1.2) Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance:
Services
Service category No 3: Air transport services of passengers and freight, except transport of mail
Main site or location of works, place of delivery or of performance: MOD Abbey Wood
Nuts code:
II.1.3) Information about a public contract, a framework agreement or a dynamic purchasing system (DPS)
II.1.4) Information on framework agreement
II.1.5) Short description of the specific contract:
Connectivity of Disparate Remote Autonomous Systems
The Authority has a developing requirement for the creation or adoption of a set of common standards and/or architecture for interfaces, data transfer and data management that can be used both for upgrades to legacy systems and future procurement to enable swift and simple interoperation of systems.
It is expected that the work will involve experimentation and demonstrations of multi-domain integrated systems which may include autonomous and swarming technologies. The aims are broad and inclusive, and the Authority is seeking engagement from all areas of the industrial marketplace with relevant contributions to make.
This requirement is considered to be particularly suitable for SMEs. The contractual mechanism will be a multi-supplier framework, with designated Lots for each technical specialism as well as Lots for more general supporting services, as described in this CN. Potential bidders are invited to register their interest in receiving an Invitation to Tender to join the framework by first completing the associated Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ).

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.
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:
Autonomous Platforms and Payload Integration
Data Management and Fusion
Machine Tasking and Decision Making
System of System (SoS) Management, Integration and Implementation
Comms Bearers, Network Architecture & Services
Customer Advisory Network (may include but not be limited to sub-Lots eg Customer Friend (independent advisory role), assurance, operationalisation, third party security testing, testing and evaluation).
Note that any potential bidder interested in the Customer Friend role will NOT be permitted to take part in any other Lot or enter into any sub-contract or other collaborative relationship with any other framework participant in order to preserve the independence of this role (no compliance regime will be authorised).
The Authority expects that few single suppliers will be capable of taking on the breadth and scope of each piece of work and therefore collaboration will be required between suppliers in a competitive environment (collaborative team bids will be encouraged for mini-competitions). There will be no prime contractor.
A Community of Interest for all framework participants will be established through which Working Groups will be held, led by the Authority, to analyse and propose next steps or further specific areas of interest under the Lotted themes. All framework participants will be required to contribute to the Working Groups according to their specialism. Feedback from the WG will be given to the Community of Interest (subject to security considerations). Intellectual Property generated under the framework taskings and its Community of Interest will be owned by the Authority under DEFCON 703.
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.

II.1.6) Common procurement vocabulary (CPV): 73410000,
II.1.7) Information about Government Procurement Agreement (GPA):
The contract is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA):
II.1.8) Lots:

II.1.9) Information about variants:
Variants will be accepted: NO
II.2) Quantity or scope of the contract:
II.2.1) Total quantity or scope:
II.2.2) Information about options:
Options: yes
Years 2, 3 and 4 of the Framework may be subject to Options.
II.2.3) Information about renewals:
This contract is subject to renewal: yes
Number of possible renewals:
II.3) Duration of the contract or time limit for completion
Duration in months: 48 (from the award of the contract)

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 financing conditions and payment arrangements and/or reference to the relevant provisions governing them:
III.1.3) Legal form to be taken by the group of economic operators to whom the contract is to be awarded:
III.1.4) Other particular conditions
The performance of the contract is subject to particular conditions: no
III.2) Conditions for participation
III.2.1) Personal situation of economic operators, including requirements relating to enrolment on professional or trade registers

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 ability
As per PQQ
Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required:
As per PQQ
As per PQQ

III.2.3) Technical capacity
Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met: As per PQQ
Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required:
III.2.4) Information about reserved contracts
III.3) Conditions specific to services contracts
III.3.1) Information about a particular profession
Execution of the service is reserved to a particular profession:
III.3.2) Staff responsible for the execution of the service
Legal persons should indicate the names and professional qualifications of the staff responsible for the execution of the service:
Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Type of procedure
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Restricted
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:
Examples of relevant previous or existing portfolio of work as requested in the PQQ
IV.1.3) Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue
IV.2) Award criteria
The most economically advantageous tender in terms of the criteria stated in the specifications, in the invitation to tender or to negotiate or in the descriptive document
IV.2.2) Information about electronic auction

IV.3) Administrative information
IV.3.1) File reference number attributed by the contracting authority/entity
701575556
IV.3.2) Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract
No
IV.3.3) Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents or descriptive document
Payable documents: Yes
IV.3.4) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
1.11.2021 – 23:59
IV.3.5) Date of dispatch of invitations to tender or to participate to selected candidates
IV.3.6) Language(s) in which tenders or requests to participate may be drawn up
EN
IV.3.7) Minimum time frame during which the tenderer must maintain the tender
In days:
IV.3.8) Conditions for opening of tenders

Section VI: Complementary information
VI.1) Information about recurrence
This is a recurrent procurement: No
VI.2) Information about European Union funds
The contract is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No
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.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
30.9.2021