Defence Online

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2022/S 000-003325/EN)
Nature of contract:
Procedure: Not applicable

Contract notice

Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name addresses and contact point(s):
Ministry of Defence
MOD Abbey Wood, Spruce 1c
Bristol
Postal code: BS34 8JH
United Kingdom
For the attention of: Shields Thomas
Email: Thomas.Shields101@mod.gov.uk
Internet Address(es):
General address of the contracting authority:
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: 702596452 – Alternative Navigation – Data Merging
II.1.2) Type of contract and location of works, place of delivery or of performance:
Services
Service category No 14: Building-cleaning services and property management services
Main site or location of works, place of delivery or of performance: MOD Abbey Wood, Bristol BS34 8JH
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:
The aim of this procurement is to award two contracts within the budgetary envelope set out in the notice. The military relies heavily on the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT), but GNSS signals are vulnerable to interference. In addition, many environments in which our military operates (inside buildings, in urban canyons, under dense foliage, underwater, and underground) have limited or no GNSS signal availability. To solve this challenge, the Alt Nav programme seeks to provide GNSS-quality PNT to military users regardless of the operational environment. This involves the merging of data within the navigation system design to prolong the availability of the PNT solution from traditional and emerging sources. The Data Merging task is the subject of this competition.
The proposed contractor(s) shall attend project management meetings to discuss information inclusive of but not limited to progress on technology development, exploitation studies, lessons learnt, details of architecture. The proposed contractor(s) shall provide a technology demonstration proving maturation of data merging technology to a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 6 (TRL descriptions can be seen in VI.3 additional information within this contract notice), followed by a technical report for contract completion. The project meetings, final report and demonstration will address the following themes:
Theme 1 – Preparing for near-term exploitation of Alt Nav technologies on existing MoD applications; defining and solving the engineering orientated problems of real-life examples of Data Merging and Theme 2 – Reporting lessons learned from the first task into MoD’s ongoing Data Fusion Research and Development activities. In the event that Data Source contractor(s) are not able to mature the Interface Control Documentation (ICD) on time – work with the Authority to select appropriate, industry standard ICDs and data fields e.g:
– Mil GPS – GPS ICD-153 (available from the UK GNSS PO)
– Open Signal GNSS – NMEA-0183
– Inertial Measurement Unit – STANAG 4572 Open System Architecture Interface to enable simulator laboratory testing of integrated INS/GPS equipment (e.g. using SPIRENT’s Sim INERTIAL simulation capability (or equivalent).
– Alt Nav Data Source – The ASPN interfaces from SET-309
– Illustrative Alt Nav Data source – based on STANAG 4278 Method of Expressing Navigation Accuracies and Draft STANAG 5645 GNSS Receiver Sensor Host ICD. 
– The MoD’s emerging Assured PNT characteristics

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:
The contract is divided into lots: No
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:
The aim of this procurement is to award two contracts within the budgetary envelope set out in the notice. The military relies heavily on the Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) for positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT), but GNSS signals are vulnerable to interference. In addition, many environments in which our military operates (inside buildings, in urban canyons, under dense foliage, underwater, and underground) have limited or no GNSS signal availability. To solve this challenge, the Alt Nav programme seeks to provide GNSS-quality PNT to military users regardless of the operational environment. This involves the merging of data within the navigation system design to prolong the availability of the PNT solution from traditional and emerging sources. The Data Merging task is the subject of this competition.
The proposed contractor(s) shall attend project management meetings to discuss information inclusive of but not limited to progress on technology development, exploitation studies, lessons learnt, details of architecture. The proposed contractor(s) shall provide a technology demonstration proving maturation of data merging technology to a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 6 (TRL descriptions can be seen in VI.3 additional information within this contract notice), followed by a technical report for contract completion. The project meetings, final report and demonstration will address the following themes:
Theme 1 – Preparing for near-term exploitation of Alt Nav technologies on existing MoD applications; defining and solving the engineering orientated problems of real-life examples of Data Merging and Theme 2 – Reporting lessons learned from the first task into MoD’s ongoing Data Fusion Research and Development activities. In the event that Data Source contractor(s) are not able to mature the Interface Control Documentation (ICD) on time – work with the Authority to select appropriate, industry standard ICDs and data fields e.g:
– Mil GPS – GPS ICD-153 (available from the UK GNSS PO)
– Open Signal GNSS – NMEA-0183
– Inertial Measurement Unit – STANAG 4572 Open System Architecture Interface to enable simulator laboratory testing of integrated INS/GPS equipment (e.g. using SPIRENT’s Sim INERTIAL simulation capability (or equivalent).
– Alt Nav Data Source – The ASPN interfaces from SET-309
– Illustrative Alt Nav Data source – based on STANAG 4278 Method of Expressing Navigation Accuracies and Draft STANAG 5645 GNSS Receiver Sensor Host ICD. 
– The MoD’s emerging Assured PNT characteristics
Estimated value excluding VAT:
1475916.00 GBP
II.2.2) Information about options:
Options: no
II.2.3) Information about renewals:
II.3) Duration of the contract or time limit for completion
Starting: 13.5.2022
Ending: 2.1.2023

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: yes
Description of particular conditions: The performance of the contract is subject to Contractor being able to hold information up to SECRET and obtaining Facility Security Clearance (previously known as List-X). Personnel performing the contract will also require Security Check (SC) at Contract Award.
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
Contained within the PQQ.
Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required:
Contained within the PQQ.
Contained within the PQQ.

III.2.3) Technical capacity
Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met: Contained within the PQQ.
Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required: Contained within the PQQ.
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
Envisaged minimum number: 3 and maximum number 10
Objective criteria for choosing the limited number of candidates:
Contained within 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
702596452
IV.3.2) Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract
No
IV.3.3) Conditions for obtaining specifications and additional documents or descriptive document

7
3
2022
12:00

Payable documents: No
IV.3.4) Time limit for receipt of tenders or requests to participate
7.3.2022 – 12:00
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.
Technology Readiness Level Descriptions:
TRL 1 Basic principles observed and reported.
TRL 2 Technology concept and/or application formulated.
TRL 3 Analytical and experimental critical function and/or characteristic proof-of-concept.
TRL 4 Technology basic validation in a laboratory environment.
TRL 5 Technology basic validation in a relevant environment.
TRL 6 Technology model or prototype demonstration in a relevant environment.
TRL 7 Technology prototype demonstration in an operational environment.
TRL 8 Actual Technology completed and qualified through test and demonstration.
TRL 9 Actual Technology qualified through successful mission operations.
VI.4) Procedures for appeal
VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
4.2.2022