The Supply of Heavy Armoured Vehicle Track and Associated Items

CPV: Armoured military vehicles · Battle tanks · Main battle tanks · Military vehicles and associated parts

Procedure method

Negotiated without publication of a contract notice

Legal basis

CELEX · 32009L0081 Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (Directive 2009/81/EC)

Procurement category

Goods

Notice status

Awarded

Procurement threshold

Unspecified in notice

Regulatory regime

Standard

Commercial structure

Framework agreement

Who may use this agreement

Not stated in the notice; call-off rights may be limited to the establishing authority

Competition type

Competitive procedure

GPA / WTO covered

Yes (GPA)

Recurring procurement

Unspecified in notice

First published

3 Dec 2024, 14:51 GMT

Last source update

3 Dec 2024, 14:51 GMT

FTS notice number

2024/S 000-038932

Classification (CPV)

Armoured military vehiclesBattle tanksMain battle tanksMilitary vehicles and associated parts

Delivery area

West Midlands (UKG21)

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-04c1e3 Find a Tender

Why no open competition

No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests to participate in response to negotiated procedure with prior publication of a contract notice; The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment, study or development under the conditions stated in the directive; The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to protection of exclusive rights, including intellectual property rights

Published justification

The Defence Equipment & Support Land Equipment Vehicle Support Team (VST), part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a single source framework contract to Cook Defence Systems (CDS) for the provision of track for the VST managed Armoured Fighting Vehicle fleet for a period of 2 years with the option to extend for a further year (one-year option). This contract will provide Track for armoured platforms including Bulldog, Challenger 2 and 3, Challenger Armoured Repair and Recovery Vehicle (CRARRV), Challenger Driver Training Tank (DTT), Titan, Trojan, Terrier and Warrior. The estimated total contract value (including option years) is not expected to exceed £125M.

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 (in particular 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 (as required by the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the DSPCR 2011 for technical reasons and regulation 16(1)(b)(i)(bb) relating to operation and maintenance. It is believed that the services to be provided under the contract can only be supplied by the CDS because CDS is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Design Authority (DA) for these platforms tracks and as such have a detailed understanding of the inherent design of each vehicles track system, understand the implications on the safe operability of the vehicles from any proposed design changes to the parent platform and has developed the necessary relationships with the parent platform’s DA’s. The Authority is unable to procure a differing track product due to the disproportionate cost and significant logistical and technical burden a mixed configuration of track components would have on the Front Line Command (FLC).

The Authority would need to ensure that FLC are trained in the installation and maintenance of two different types of track and the Authority will need to sufficiently procure two different sets of track under separate contracts to ensure sufficient spares for both types are available. Additionally, there is a significant logistical burden on the FLC whereby they will have to ensure sufficient load carrying capability is available to transit two different types of track to support deployed Operational and Training fleets. Technical risk is created whereby maintainers may inadvertently cross-contaminate track from the differing types, invalidating the Safety Case for that platform. All of this creates an unacceptable operational risk and the Authority does not intend to procure a sufficient number of track components to enact a whole-fleet replacement to eliminate the risk of a mixed configuration.

This notice is not a request for expressions of interest so please do not apply to be invited to tender. This notice advises that the Authority has decided to negotiate a contract with the named supplier on a single source basis and is published for reasons of transparency.

Please note, Babcock Land Defence Limited (BLDL) is acting as agent on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, in the first instance interested parties may contact Babcock with queries relating to this procurement.

1 suppliers are admitted to this framework without individual award values or dates, see the supplier list below.

• Cook Defence Systems LtdFramework contractor Stanhope, County Durham, Stanhope, North East, DL13 2YR

No document links were published on the notice.