Defence Online

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2022/S 000-024737/EN)
Nature of contract:
Procedure: Not applicable

Contract notice

Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name addresses and contact point(s):
Ministry of Defence
#1261 Spruce 2B, DE&S Abbey Wood, Filton
Bristol
Postal code: BS34 8JH
United Kingdom
Contact points(s): Toby Love
For the attention of: Love Toby
Email: Toby.Love103@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:
I.3) Main activity:
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: Uncrewed Surface / Subsurface Vehicle (USSV)
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
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 Authority has a developing requirement to demonstrate a full-scale prototype of an autonomous vessel capability that is able to transit on the surface at speed, quickly transitioning sub-surface for covert delivery of capabilities. Integration into an open architecture network (NSN) will be critical for these vessels to operate autonomously and deploy modular mission payloads.
The littoral strike battlespace commander requires surveillance, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and strike effectors, which can be covertly deployed to multiple simultaneous maritime locations and persist to enhance commando operations. The capability must have a useful service life, operate from the broadest range of platforms, worldwide, by day and night, survive likely threats and be deliverable.
Due to the rapid timescales the authority is driving, we would expect that companies we will be working with will have already successfully designed, manufactured and operated an autonomous vessel (as described above) capable of surface and sub-surface operation up to at least fully-operational demonstrator stage. If companies have not achieved this to date, we would expect companies to achieve a minimum entry criteria, potentially backed up by authority SQEP panel via on-site visits to confirm that you have capabilities, resources, plans and measures in place to meet this requirement within the given timescales. Please provide supporting evidence to the above within the white paper.
It is expected that the work will involve experimentation and demonstrations of an uncrewed Surface and subsurface vessel.
The contractual mechanism is intended to be a multi-supplier framework. 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) and White Paper template.
The Authority intends to invite all eligible companies who pass the PQQ to tender for the Framework. Companies who successfully pass the PQQ will be considered eligible to receive an Invitation to Tender at the next stage of the programme. c.£4.45M inc VAT is available to be split amongst multiple companies under a competitive process and assessed for best Value For Money (VFM), awarding to 1 or more companies to accelerate towards Min Viable Product (MVP) within the Design/Re-design, Manufacture and Demo phases between Dec 22 and Mar 25.
The process as currently defined post PQQ will be to issue an ITT against a minimum requirement, select bidders, accelerate the proposed systems through funding, with the intent of having a full scale demonstration within the framework duration.
As with any framework, there can be no guarantee of any particular quantity of work being put through it.
The Authority expects that 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 are encouraged).

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:
II.2) Quantity or scope of the contract:
II.2.1) Total quantity or scope:
II.2.2) Information about options:

II.2.3) Information about renewals:
II.3) Duration of the contract or time limit for completion

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
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

Minimum level(s) of standards possibly required:
III.2.3) Technical capacity
Information and formalities necessary for evaluating if the requirements are met:
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
IV.1.3) Reduction of the number of operators during the negotiation or dialogue
IV.2) Award criteria
IV.2.2) Information about electronic auction

IV.3) Administrative information
IV.3.1) File reference number attributed by the contracting authority/entity
IV.3.2) Previous publication(s) concerning the same contract

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
4.10.2022 – 17:00
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
VI.2) Information about European Union funds
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:
2.9.2022