Official UK procurement notice
715838592 - Internal Communications System (ICS) - Technical Refresh (TS) - RFI
Authority: Submarine Delivery Agency (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThis in-service support is currently achieved via a sole source contract with the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) including a contractual arrangement for the management of the Shore Reference Sets (SRS) associated with the ICS.
ICS provides a digital and analogue voice message exchange architecture that supports voice communications over digital and wireless networks and analogue circuits. The system also includes a telephone exchange, secondary, emergency damage control (DC) communication systems, submarine broadcast and general alarm functions. A-Class ICS employs a wholly, complex, 3-node communication architecture that employs digital switch and network technologies within a multi-layer software model. It supports essential communications between the submarine crew for operational and safety critical functions on-board. The existing system in place is based on Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and will need to move to the modern Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) technology to allow long term support.
ICS is a complex system with many interfaces and nodes to allow personnel the opportunity to communicate throughout the platform. This complexity is not always understood by Ship Staff so it is essential to have engineering backup available via Suitably Qualified and Experienced Personnel (SQEP) ICS engineers provisioned for via a support contract. Astute ICS is a Priority 1 Master Equipment (ME) and is vital to delivering platform capability. The software will need to be a SIL2 (Safety Integrity Level) system and integral to the whole boat safety case.
CPV: Communications network
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1PlannedRenewal
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Submarine Delivery Agency buys Local area network (CPV 3241), and who usually turns up
Submarine Delivery Agency’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Local area network (CPV 3241) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards have an award date within 53 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid17% / 0%
2–350% / 56%
4–60% / 33%
7+33% / 11%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate44%
Within ±2%56%
Above estimate0%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 3241Published estimate£100m
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 110 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid15%
2–341%
4–626%
7+17%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 17 Apr 2026, 10:02 BST
- Last source update
- 20 Apr 2026, 10:01 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-035464- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-0684d9Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
17 Apr 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 5 dates- Planning notice published192 days ago17 Apr 2026, 10:02 BST
- Latest notice published189 days ago20 Apr 2026, 10:01 BST
- Market engagement136 days ago12 Jun 2026, 23:59 BST
This Request for Information (RFI) will be advertised on the Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) and Find a Tender Service (FTS) and issued to all who request an RFI together with other companies whom the SDA believes may be able to provide useful intelligence on this requirement.
Responses to this RFI will be reviewed by subject matter experts from different functional areas within the SDA. Following receipt of responses to this RFI the Authority may initiate follow on engagement with either individual potential suppliers, groups of potential suppliers or all potential suppliers. This may be undertaken in writing or through virtual meetings.
Any details provided in response to this RFI or during subsequent engagement will be used for information purposes only and will not be used to determine the potential suppliers who will be invited to bid, should the Authority proceed to tender.
The results and analysis of this RFI shall not constitute any form of pre-qualification exercise. Any formal procurement process will be undertaken in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023.
Nothing in this RFI, or any other engagements with Industry prior to a formal procurement process, shall be construed as a representation as to the Authority’s ultimate decision in relation to the future requirement.
- Tender notice expected21 days ago5 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today27 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 155 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 17 Apr 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published17 Apr 2026, 10:02 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published20 Apr 2026, 10:01 BSTUK2
Published amendments (1)
Added the link to the RFI https://contracts.mod.uk/esop/guest/go/opportunity/detail?opportunityId=60986
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender