Defence Online

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2023/S 000-023661/EN)
Nature of contract: Supply contract
Procedure: Negotiated without a call for competition
Type of bid required: Not applicable

Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Supplies

Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Official name: Ministry of Defence
Town: Salisbury
Postal code: SP4 0JQ
Country: United Kingdom
Email: CTS-Transparency@dstl.gov.uk
Internet address(es):
Main address:
Address of the buyer profile:

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: Supply of VR Forces Licenses, Associated Maintenance and Hardware

Reference number: RQ0000027028
II.1.2) Main CPV code: 48000000
II.1.3) Type of contract Supplies
II.1.4) Short Description:
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a contracts for the supply of VR Forces Licenses, associated hardware and maintenance for use by it’s Counter Terrorism and Security (CTS) Division.
II.1.6) Information about lots
The contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement(excluding VAT)
Value:345000
Currency:GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.2)Additional CPV code(s)
Main CPV code: 48461000
Main CPV code: 48462000
Main CPV code: 72000000
Main CPV code: 72200000
Main CPV code: 72260000
Main CPV code: 72267000
Main CPV code: 72267100
Main CPV code: 72268000

II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code:
II.2.4) Description of the procurement
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a contracts for the supply of VR Forces Licenses, associated hardware and maintenance for use by it’s Counter Terrorism and Security (CTS) Division.
The initial contract will be for the supply of 4 licenses and 4 USB dongles, 1 years annual maintenance for each license and an additional 1 year maintenance for an existing license already owned by Dstl (estimated value of £160,000.00 – £165,000.00 ex VAT) with the option to extend the maintenance on an annual basis up to a maximum period of 5 years (up to an estimated total contract value of £340,000 – £345,000.00 ex VAT)

II.2.5) Award criteria
II.2.11) Information about options
Options:yes
Description of options:
The contract will contain options to extend the maintenance for each license on an annual basis up to a maximum period of 5 years.

II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no
II.2.14) Additional information:
II.2.5 Award Criteria:
The award of this contract will be in accordance with MOD commercial policy on the pricing of single source non qualifying contracts applying the principle of No Acceptable Price, No Contract (NAPNOC).

Section IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure without prior publication(in accordance with Article 32 of Directive 2014/24/EU)
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
Contract No: PA0000001447
Title: Supply of VR Forces Licenses, Associated Hardware and Maintenance

V.2) Award of contract/concession
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession award decision:2023-08-09
V.2.2) Information about tenders
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Official name: ST Engineering Antycip Ltd
Postal address: The Hub, Twyford Mill
Town: Adderbury
Postal code: OX17 3SX
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

Section VI: Complementary informationVI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Official name: Ministry of Defence
Town: Salisbury
Country: United Kingdom

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
2023-08-14

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 prior publication of a call for competition in accordance with Article
32 of Directive 2014/24/EU
The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research , experiment, study or development under the conditions stated
in the directive(for supplies only)
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
absence of competition for technical reasons

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:
The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) acting on behalf of the UK Ministry of Defence (the Authority) intends to award a contract to ST Engineering Antycip Limited for a term of up to 5 years and an estimated value of £345,000.00
In accordance with the provisions of The Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 SI No. 2020/1319, this procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) as amended (in particular by SI 2020/1319). 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 (as required by the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the PCR 2015 because competition is absent for technical reasons.
The Authority has a mandate to demonstrate the benefits of a consistent, cohesive and sharable approach to federated modelling & simulation (M&S) for Testing and Evaluation (T&E) across all of the UK Ministry Of Defence (MOD). This common approach needs to be able to bring together existing and new M&S from across MOD, including models from Science & Technology, Defence Intelligence, Front Line Commands and industry. As part of this mandate, The Authority is required to build multiple simulation and modelling test benches that can be loaned to governmental, industrial and academic partners.
A specification for these was designed in conjunction with The Authority’s industry and Governmental partners, and resulted in a need for battlefield simulation software. As a result, the Authority has a requirement to procure battlefield simulation software that is compatible and able to interoperate with (including but not limited to) other DSTL modelling and simulation projects and the RAF GLADIATOR and associated projects that currently utilise the MAK VR-Forces software.
The MAK VR-Forces software is the only battlefield simulation software currently available on the market that can meet all of the Authority’s technical requirements. Including, but not limited to, its ability to follow industry open standards to allow the federation of external models, datasets and hardware-in-the-loop into the simulation, it’s scale of simulations (e.g. simple first person individual training) to full scale realistic scenarios (e.g. opposed carrier task force supported amphibious landing) across all domains (land, air, maritime, space and cyber etc) and it not being limited to specific government departments or ITAR controls. It also has to be compliant with the Defence Modelling and Simulation Coherence Technical Authority in line with JSP 939.
The proprietary rights in the VR Forces software, hardware and maintenance are owned exclusively by MAK Technologies, Inc., for which ST Engineering Antycip Ltd are the sole UK distributor. Both companies are part of the same company group, Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd. ST Engineering Antycip Ltd is therefore the only economic operator that is capable of meeting the Authority’s requirement.