Procurement of LW30-UK5 · UK public procurement notice

The Defence General Munitions (DGM) Delivery Team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), has a requirement for LW30 ammunition and intends to award up to an 8 Year contract to Northrop Grumman (NG) via the direct award procedure in accordance with the procurement Act 2023 (PA23). The estimated total value of the proposed award is £50m ex-VAT (£60m inclusive of VAT).

It is considered that the award of the contract without prior publication of a Tender notice in the UK e-notification service is lawful in accordance with Paragraph 6 of Schedule 5 of the PA23 for technical reasons.

This is on the basis that NG have the rights to manufacture LW30 ammunition on licence from the US Department of Defence. NG are approved by the US DOD to manufacture LW30 ammunition for use in the Apache M230 Cannon. Only Rounds manufactured in accordance with the US DOD Design Authority can be used on the Apache Platform. UK MOD must utilise US DOD Endorsed companies when procuring UK Ammunition stores to ensure compatibility with the Apache platform. Compatibility with current in-service weapon systems is paramount and NG have the technical knowledge, expertise and legal rights to manufacture these Rounds.