Installation of the KRS Communication System onto Wave Class Vessels

Defence Equipment & Support, part of the UK Ministry of Defence on behalf of The Secretary of State for Defence (the Authority)intends to award a Contract to Thales SIX (Crawley ) (“the Contractor”) for the repurposing, upgrading and modification of the Authority’s existing spare T23 KRS (KMY Replacement System) assets and subsequent integration and fitting onto the Authority’s FRA Wave Class vessels together with continued through-life maintenance and support including spares provision thereby providing a common support solution across T23 and Wave Class. The value of the estimated contract is £6million.

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 (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 (in accordance with the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 for technical reasons .

This is on the basis that the Authority has insufficient rights to pass the necessary data and information to undertake the requirement to third parties and that only the Contractor as Original Equipment Design Authority has the accumulated technical knowledge, expertise and know-how at its disposal required to provide the requirement in particular in relation to the full system design, build and integration.. . This includes the intimate knowledge and understanding of the existing equipment used across the fleet and to provide the necessary services and development of bespoke solutions to address the requirement to fit into the WAVE class. Furthermore only the Contractor can provide certification of the safety and interoperability of the equipment and through-life spares and maintenance work and security accreditation requirements where necessary to the reasonable satisfaction of the Authority .