Defence Online

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2022/S 000-021512/EN)
Nature of contract: Service contract
Procedure: Negotiated without a call for competition
Type of bid required: Not applicable

Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Services

Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Official name: Ministry of Defence
Town: Corsham
Country: United Kingdom
Contact Person: James Bibby
Email: james.bibby105@mod.gov.uk
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: VTN 704456454 – DDSFTW076 Northrop Grumman Software License Agreement
II.1.2) Main CPV code: 72600000
II.1.3) Type of contract Services
II.1.4) Short Description:
The Dynamic Software and Enterprise team (DSET) within Defence Digital, part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to place a two-year contract with Northrop Grumman UK Ltd (“NG”) for NG Software Licence Support and respective Engineering Support Services. The software licensing and engineering support under the proposed Contract allows the provision of a critical NG application to host the C4ISR Toolset which is the mandated PJHQ J3 repository for world-wide significant operational events. This is a critical system for provision of the information environment for UK operations worldwide.
II.1.6) Information about lots
The contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement(excluding VAT)
Value:4300000
Currency:GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code:
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
In accordance with regulation 4 of The Defence and Security Public Contracts (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/697) this procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 as amended (in particular by SI 2019/697 and SI 2020/1450). Prior publication of a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union is no longer appropriate. It is considered that the award of the contract without prior publication of a contract notice in the UK e-notification service is lawful in accordance with Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 for Technical Reasons.

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
Negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice(in accordance with Article 28 of Directive 2009/81/EU)
IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement(GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: no
IV.2) Administrative information

Section V: Award of contract/concession
Contract No: 704456454
Title: DDSFTW076 Northrop Grumman Software License Agreement

V.2) Award of contract/concession
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession award decision:2022-08-05
V.2.2) Information about tenders
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Official name: Northrop Grumman
Postal address: Leander House
Town: Fareham
Postal code: PO15 7AZ
Country: United Kingdom
Nuts code:
The contractor is an SME: no

V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession(excluding VAT)
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
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
The contract/lot/concession is likely to be subcontracted
Value or proportion likely to be subcontracted to third parties
All or certain subcontracts will be awarded through a competitive procedure(see Title III of Directive 2009/81/EC)

Section VI: Complementary informationVI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Official name: Ministry of Defence, Defence Digital
Town: Corsham
Postal code: SN13 9NR
Country: United Kingdom

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
2022-08-05

Justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a call for
competition in the Official Journal of the European Union
1.Justification for the choice of the negotiated procedure without publication of a call for competition in accordance with
Article 28 of Directive 2009/81/EU

No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests to participate in response to:
negotiated procedure with prior publication of a contract notice

The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment,study or development under the conditions
stated in the directive(for services and supplies only)

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:
For technical reasons the contract may only be awarded to NG since only they own all associated technical background and IPR related to the licenses and support required. In addition, because of this, only NG can provide the 3rd & 4th line support required. This opportunity is further restricted by ITAR regulations, under which only NG are able to support this application. No other provider could deliver the requirement in the time and cost envelope required and without introducing unacceptable interoperability risk. As the service is currently operationally in-use across a vast range of assets any immediate change in provider would leave an unacceptable capability gap.