Official UK procurement notice
UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement - Royal Navy Type 93 Extra-Large Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle (XLUUV) and AUKUS Signature Payload Programme Preliminary Market Engagement: Invitation to Register Interest
Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Royal Navy is inviting organisations to register their interest in preliminary market engagement for the Type 93 and AUKUS Signature Payload Programme. The Royal Navy seeks to improve its understanding of the market and wider ecosystem for Extra-Large Uncrewed Underwater Vehicle (XLUUV) platforms, associated payloads, and enabling functions. This activity supports the development of the Type 93 capability and the Royal Navy’s commitments under the AUKUS Pillar II Signature Project.
The purpose of the registration of interest is to gather a comprehensive list of interested suppliers for XLUUV market segments and the wider ecosystem. This includes, but is not limited to: XLUUV platform providers, payload providers, relevant technology and software suppliers including Autonomy, AI and Mission Management Systems, integrators, through-life support providers, and other relevant suppliers. Suppliers who register their interest through this notice may be invited to participate in subsequent preliminary market engagement activities, including but not limited to, collaborative workshops, 1:1 meetings, industry days, and written requests for information (RFIs). Responses will be used to inform requirements development, and future market engagement and wider programme planning.
The Royal Navy is initially considering platforms approximately 2 metres in diameter and 12 metres in length, however organisations offering platforms of other dimensions are also encouraged to register. This notice should not be considered as a commitment from the Royal Navy to progress with any future procurement activities.
The programme directly aligns with the Strategic Defence Review (SDR), Defence Investment Plan (DIP) and AUKUS Pillar II priorities, supporting the transition to a Hybrid Navy through the integration of autonomous and uncrewed maritime capabilities.
The value of £1 and contract duration of 12 months should be regarded as nominal and will be updated via future notice(s) as the programme progresses, figures and dates mature, and are subsequently confirmed.
CPV: Marine equipment · Repair and maintenance services of warships · Unmanned underwater vehicles
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 Warships (CPV 3551), 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: Warships (CPV 3551) →
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 in 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 73 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 bid63% / 23%
2–316% / 54%
4–65% / 15%
7+16% / 8%
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 estimate80% / 60%
Within ±2%20% / 20%
Above estimate0% / 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 3551No 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 13 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid23%
2–354%
4–615%
7+8%
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
- Defence & security
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 12 Oct 2026, 12:10 BST
- Last source update
- 12 Oct 2026, 12:10 BST
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-096028- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078582Find a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
12 Oct 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice published16 days ago12 Oct 2026, 12:10 BST
- Today29 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 153 days31 Mar 2027, 23:59 BST
By registering interest, organisations confirm they are content to be contacted and engaged by the Royal Navy for preliminary market engagement activity. This registration is not a commitment by the Royal Navy or the organisation to participate in any future procurement activity. The Royal Navy will use the registered list of interested organisations and stakeholders to keep them informed about the programme and notify them of future engagement opportunities.
Organisations should access and complete the registered interest form using the following Microst Forms link:
forms.cloud.microsoft/e/nj6YzhQSRi ↗
Responses should aim to be submitted by 29 October 17:00 (GMT) 2026, however, registration will remain open during the preliminary engagement programme. If you have any questions, they can be sent to NavyDev-Type93-Commercial@mod.gov.uk.
All information provided in the form should be at classification: OFFICIAL.
Following the review of registration responses, the Royal Navy may invite a limited number of organisations to further preliminary market engagement activity. Involvement will be based on relevance to the event themes and the need to obtain useful and representative market insight. Organisations not invited to a workshop may still have their written responses considered for market-engagement purposes and will not be precluded from further engagement.
Participation in all preliminary market engagement is voluntary and at each organisation’s own cost. Participation does not constitute pre-qualification and will confer no advantage or disadvantage in any potential future procurement. This notice should not be considered as a commitment from the Royal Navy to progress with any future procurement activities.
- Contract startsin 153 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published12 Oct 2026, 12:10 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 (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender