714785450 - UK Transparency Notice RAPIDSentry - 2 Years Service Support

1. The Short Range Integrated Air Defence delivery team (SIAD) part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) intends to award Thales UK Ltd an initial 2-year Contract with a 2 year option for the technical service support to sustain and support the RAPIDSentry systems owned by the MOD. There will be an extra 2 year optional support package included to enable continued in-service support, if required. The support contract will be in place from October 2025 and have an estimated value of £6.0M
2. This Procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023). It is considered this Contract be placed under Chapter 3, Section 41 – Direct Award in Specials Cases (1)(a) of the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023). This is for Technical Reasons in accordance with:

Schedule. 5 para. 6. The following conditions are met in relation to the public contract-

(a) due to an absence of competition for technical reason, only a particular supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and

(b) there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works

3. SIAD DT cannot contract with another economic entity as Thales UK Ltd are the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Design Authority for the RAPIDSentry air defence capability. As the OEM and Design Authority Thales own all design rights and technical information, access to which is necessary to fulfil this requirement. Without access to this proprietary information, it is not possible to fulfil this requirement, and therefore Thales are the only contractor capable of performing the required services. Only Thales have the technical information necessary to y to resolve equipment faults by service or repair.

All unserviceable Line Replaceable Units (LRU) from any RS system must be returned to the OEM production facility for fault diagnosis and repair, as only the OEM has the requisite technical knowledge, information, and special Test Equipment to conduct repairs of internal LRUs.

The Authority is provisioned with Operator & Maintainer Training and User manuals to allow RAF personnel to Operate and Maintain each RS system. Maintenance is limited to regular preventative tasks and when required, replacement of LRUs. The Authority has no permitted access to conduct software updates, equipment modifications or repairs of individual LRUs, due to the proprietary nature of the equipment. Therefore, only Thales is capable of fulfilling this requirement.