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Published 16 Oct 2025, 09:22 BST

Official UK procurement notice

The Provision of Contractor Logistic Support (CLS) to Outfit 4KMA

Official notice

Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)

Direct awardDefence & security
Sectors: Repair & Maintenance (50) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Awarded value£10,000,000published award · exc. VAT
Award in standstill Not publishedno call for competition
Award (standstill) to Thales UK Limited

What is being bought

Published requirement description

Outfit 4KMA is a critical communication system that provides the Royal Navy (RN) with Ship/Shore and Ship/Ship data and voice communication services.

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Awarded
50600000 Repair and maintenance services of security and defence materials

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Direct award
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Notice status
Awarded without competition
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
Regulatory regime
Defence & security
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Direct award (no call for competition)
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
Unspecified in notice
First published
16 Oct 2025, 09:22 BST
Last source update
16 Oct 2025, 09:22 BST
Authority reference
715692460
FTS notice number
2025/S 000-065779
Latest notice
Transparency notice (UK5)
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05cdb4 Find a Tender
Why no open competition
Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
Published justification
  1. The Strategic Services Radio-in-Service (RiS) Team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (“MOD”), intends to award a new contract with Thales UK for the through life support of the Outfit 4KMA High Frequency (HF) data communication system fitted on several Royal Navy (RN) platforms.
  2. It is considered that this Contract can be placed as a Direct Award (for Technical Reasons) pursuant to s41 and paragraph 6 of Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023.
  3. Through Life Support of the Outfit 4KMA HF data communication system is required to:
  • Maintain documentation including safety, technical publications, configuration and obsolescence management.
  • Provide fault diagnosis and the development of solutions to systems problems and issues.
  • Provide a repair capability to repair damaged or faulty components.
  1. Outfit 4KMA is a critical communication system that provides the Royal Navy with High Frequency Ship/Shore and Ship/Ship data and voice communication services. It supports the exchange of ACP127-format formal messaging and enables maritime command and control in contested electromagnetic environments.
  2. The required Through Life Support is for equipment originally designed and installed on RN platforms by Thales UK in 2005. Following installation, this equipment has also been maintained under multiple contracts with Thales UK over the last 23 years. During this time, Thales UK have built up significant technical knowledge about the 4KMA system/equipment. This knowledge is critical for the continued through-life support/maintaining the Royal Navy’s HF capability and cannot be replicated by other suppliers in the market-place. Based on this (and due to the age of the equipment resulting in various obsolescence issues), Thales UK are deemed by the MOD to be the only supplier with the technical ability to meet the MOD requirement for the continued through-life support to the 4KMA equipment.
  3. Thales also own the Intellectual Property for the items listed below which needs to be used for the delivery of the through-life support.

a. The TRC1760 Modem

b. Series 6000 exciter/Receiver and Front Panel

c. 125W Power Amplifier TMR 1096

d. 125W Power Amplifier TMR 1097

e. 500W Transceiver System

f. ARQ Server

g. ACP127/JANAP128 Client

h. ACP123 Client

i. HF E-mail Client

Notice history

2 events · 1 release on Find a Tender · since 16 Oct 2025
  1. Transparency notice published
    16 Oct 2025, 09:22 BST
    UK5
  2. Contract signature expected
    31 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST
    scheduled

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast
Awards 1some still in standstill
Awarded value £10,000,0001 award exc. VAT
Awarded toValueDateStatus
Thales UK Limited1 Sept 2026 – 31 Aug 2029 · up to 31 Aug 2031Extensions: 2x 1 year options · Options: 2x 1 year options£10,000,000—Standstill

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Ministry of Defence

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PHVX-4316-ZVGZ MOD Corsham, Westwells Rd, Corsham, South West, SN13 9NRContact email

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice
  • Thales UK LimitedAwarded supplierGB-COH: 00868273 Thales UK Limited, Crawley, South East, RH10 9HAContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Transparency notice awardTransparency noticeUK5Transparency notice on Find a Tender