Official UK procurement notice
UK2 - Deployable Maritime Secure Analysis Capability – Preliminary Market Engagement
Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Ministry of Defence (the Authority) is exploring the market for a deployable capability that would allow users to handle information securely while operating at sea for extended periods, and to share information securely between deployed and shore-based users. Existing arrangements provide limited capacity at sea.
The Authority is interested in solutions that are readily deployable through standardised freight transport (air, land and sea) and can be procured with an ongoing maintenance, training and in-service support solution package. The Authority is also interested in suppliers who could provide all or part of such a solution and supports collaborative working with other suppliers to jointly develop a solution, together with appetite and capability for development. Areas of interest include secure marinised deployable or modular workspaces (e.g. containers), IT and communications integration, secure data transfer (including hardware and software), in-service support, and the design, demonstration and Secure by Design process for such a capability.
This notice opens a staged engagement. Suppliers who register an interest and meet the access conditions below will receive a Request for Information marked OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE, followed by a clarification period and an industry day. The Authority will use responses to refine its requirement, its commercial strategy and its delivery plan before any competition.
This notice is issued for preliminary market engagement only. It is not a call for competition, an invitation to tender or a commitment to procure. Participation is voluntary and at the supplier's own cost; responses are not scored. Any competition will be conducted under a separately published tender notice and will be open to all suppliers meeting its published conditions of participation, whether or not they took part in this engagement. The Authority anticipates a competitive flexible procedure under the Procurement Act 2023, subject to approval, and is considering whether a paid development stage may form part of that procedure.
CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support · Radio, television, communication, telecommunication and related equipment · Special-purpose mobile containers
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Ministry of Defence buys Trailers, semi-trailers and mobile containers (CPV 3422), and who usually turns up
Ministry of Defence’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: Trailers, semi-trailers and mobile containers (CPV 3422) →
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 outside 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 24 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 bid25% / 28%
2–350% / 44%
4–625% / 16%
7+0% / 13%
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 estimate60% / 80%
Within ±2%22% / 0%
Above estimate18% / 20%
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 3422No real estimate
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 32 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid28%
2–344%
4–616%
7+13%
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
- 28 Sept 2026, 17:39 BST
- Last source update
- 22 Oct 2026, 11:41 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-099893- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077be7Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
28 Sept 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 4 dates- Planning notice published29 days ago28 Sept 2026, 17:39 BST
- Market engagement10 days ago16 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
This notice is issued for preliminary market engagement only. It is not a call for competition, an invitation to tender or a commitment to procure. Participation is voluntary and at the supplier's own cost; responses are not scored. Any competition will be conducted under a separately published tender notice and will be open to all suppliers meeting its published conditions of participation, whether or not they took part in this engagement. The Authority anticipates a competitive flexible procedure under the Procurement Act 2023, subject to approval, and is considering whether a paid development stage may form part of that procedure.
To receive the RFI a supplier must submit the expression of interest described below and provide sufficient information to allow the Authority to verify: (a) its legal identity and that it is not excluded from public contracts; (b) its ownership; (c) its relevance to at least one area of interest in this notice; (d) its ability to contract with the Authority; and (e) its acknowledgement that the RFI is marked OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE and will be handled on a need-to-know basis in accordance with the handling instructions issued with it. Registration on the Defence Sourcing Portal is required. These checks control access to the RFI only; they are not a procurement evaluation or pre-qualification for any future competition. Facility Security Clearance is not required to receive the RFI. Overseas suppliers may take part provided they can contract with the Authority and comply with the handling conditions.
Questions about this form:
If you have a question that is necessary to complete this Expression of Interest form, please submit it to MARDEL <NAD-MARDEL@mod.gov.uk>
At this stage, the Authority will only respond to questions that relate directly to completion of this form. Wider questions about the requirement, technical solution, scope, delivery model, commercial model, access arrangements or potential procurement process will not be answered at this stage.
Further requirement-related clarification will be reserved for suppliers invited to participate in the subsequent RFI stage.
Registration on the Defence Sourcing Portal is required.
These checks control access to the RFI only; they are not a procurement evaluation or pre-qualification for any future competition.
Facility Security Clearance is not required to receive the RFI. Overseas suppliers may take part provided they can contract with the Authority and comply with the handling conditions.
Notice published: Monday 28th September 2026.
Expressions of interest requested by: Friday 16th October 2026.
RFI issued to suppliers meeting the access conditions, no later than COP Wednesday 21st October 2026.
Industry day: 6 November 2026.
RFI responses due: 23 November 2026.
Suppliers are requested to complete the below expression-of-interest MS Form by Friday 16th October 2026. Thirty-nine questions; no proposals, prices or classified material. Submissions after that date are accepted until any tender notice is published, but the supplier may miss the industry day.
forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx ↗
Email multiuser: NAD-MARDEL@mod.gov.uk. Questions of general relevance are answered to all registered suppliers without identifying the source.
- Latest notice published5 days ago22 Oct 2026, 11:41 BST
- Today27 Oct 2026
- Contract startsin 155 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
3 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 28 Sept 2026- Preliminary market engagement notice published28 Sept 2026, 17:39 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published28 Sept 2026, 17:41 BSTUK2
- Preliminary market engagement notice published22 Oct 2026, 11:41 BSTUK2
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 (3)
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
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender