Award

Project BRACIS

  • Ministry of Defence

F15: Voluntary ex ante transparency notice

Notice identifier: 2025/S 000-004357

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-04dd4b

Published 10 February 2025, 2:50pm



Section one: Contracting authority/entity

one.1) Name and addresses

Ministry of Defence

CBRN,Yew3a, Abbey Wood,

Bristol

BS34 8JH

Contact

Carly Williams

Email

carly.williams713@mod.gov.uk

Telephone

+44 7810751516

Country

United Kingdom

Region code

UKK1 - Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bristol/Bath area

Internet address(es)

Main address

https://contracts.mod.uk/go/153332720194F03558A3

one.4) Type of the contracting authority

Ministry or any other national or federal authority

one.5) Main activity

Defence


Section two: Object

two.1) Scope of the procurement

two.1.1) Title

Project BRACIS

Reference number

CBRN/00312

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 72000000 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

two.1.3) Type of contract

Services

two.1.4) Short description

The Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Delivery Team (CBRN DT), part of the Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) Organisation within the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), intends to place a new single source Contract with Bruhn Newtech Ltd (BNT Ltd) for the support of Biological, Radiological and Chemical (BRaCIS) Warning and Reporting (W&R) software for a period of 5 years to FY 2031 with 2 x options years to provide a continuing requirement to support the In-Service CBRN W&R software including training for UK Defence. Please note this Contract has not yet been placed and the intention is to place this contract with a start date of 15 June 2026. This VTN is for transparency purposes.

two.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

two.1.7) Total value of the procurement (excluding VAT)

Value excluding VAT: £4,850,000

two.2) Description

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UKK1 - Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Bristol/Bath area

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

The Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Delivery Team (CBRN DT), part of the Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) Organisation within the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), seek to place a new single source Contract with Bruhn Newtech Ltd (BNT Ltd) for the support of Biological, Radiological and Chemical (BRaCIS) Warning and Reporting (W&R) software for a period of 5 years to FY 2031 with 2 x options years to provide a continuing requirement to support the In-Service CBRN W&R software including training for UK Defence. It is considered that this contract can be awarded using the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice, pursuant to Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the UK Defence and Security Public Contract Regulations 2011 (No 1848), for technical reasons.

BRaCIS software is owned, designed and maintained by BNT Ltd, the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Despite the W&R software being a Commercial of The Shelf (COTS) item used by additional NATO countries, this software with BNT Ltd has been modified to meet the UK bespoke requirements defined by the UK MOD. These modifications are essential to make it compatible with the UK Defence BOWMAN ComBAT Information Platform (BCiP), operating on the BCiP networking platform. BRaCIS has been tested and verified by Dstl making this a bespoke capability for UK Defence which meets the UK CBRN W&R requirements and only BNT Ltd are able to provide BRaCIS and the in-service support.

BRaCIS is essential to provide command and control where CBRN is an aspect of operations. NATO sets common standards for CBRN W&R software and BNT Ltd is the only provider who is also a member of the committee that manage updates to the NATO standards ATP – 45 (F). The use of a CBRN W&R software if not compliant with the NATO standards, would result in delays in receiving warning of a CBRN attack, which would result in a risk to life.

This Contract will be Single Source to Bruhn Newtech Ltd, Suite 6, The Portway Centre, Old Sarum Park, Salisbury, SP4 6EB.

two.2.5) Award criteria

Price

two.2.11) Information about options

Options: Yes

Description of options

2 option years

two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds

The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: No


Section four. Procedure

four.1) Description

four.1.1) Type of procedure

Negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice

  • 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
  • The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
    • absence of competition for technical reasons

Explanation:

BRaCIS software is owned, designed and maintained by BNT Ltd, the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Despite the W&R software being a Commercial of The Shelf (COTS) item used by additional NATO countries, this software with BNT Ltd has been modified to meet the UK bespoke requirements defined by the UK MOD. These modifications are essential to make it compatible with the UK Defence BOWMAN ComBAT Information Platform (BCiP), operating on the BCiP networking platform. BRaCIS has been tested and verified by Dstl making this a bespoke capability for UK Defence which meets the UK CBRN W&R requirements and only BNT Ltd are able to provide BRaCIS and the in-service support.

BRaCIS is essential to provide command and control where CBRN is an aspect of operations. NATO sets common standards for CBRN W&R software and BNT Ltd is the only provider who is also a member of the committee that manage updates to the NATO standards ATP – 45 (F). The use of a CBRN W&R software if not compliant with the NATO standards, would result in delays in receiving warning of a CBRN attack, which would result in a risk to life.

four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No


Section five. Award of contract/concession

Contract No

CBRN/00312

Title

Project BRACIS

A contract/lot is awarded: Yes

five.2) Award of contract/concession

five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract

10 February 2025

five.2.2) Information about tenders

The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No

five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor/concessionaire

Bruhn Newtech Ltd

Suite 6, The Portway Centre, Old Sarum Park,

Salisbury

SP4 6EB

Email

eje@bruhn-newtech.co.uk

Country

United Kingdom

NUTS code
  • UK - United Kingdom
The contractor/concessionaire is an SME

Yes

five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot/concession (excluding VAT)

Initial estimated total value of the contract/lot/concession: £4,850,000

Lowest offer: £4,000,000 / Highest offer: £4,900,000 taken into consideration

five.2.5) Information about subcontracting

The contract/lot/concession is likely to be subcontracted


Section six. Complementary information

six.4) Procedures for review

six.4.1) Review body

CBRN Delivery Team

Yew 3a, Abbey Wood

Bristol

BS34 8JH

Email

carly.williams713@mod.gov.uk

Country

United Kingdom

six.4.2) Body responsible for mediation procedures

CBRN DT

Yew 3a, Abbey Wood

Bristol

BS34 8JH

Email

carly.williams713@mod.gov.uk

Country

United Kingdom

six.4.4) Service from which information about the review procedure may be obtained

CBRN Delivery Team

Yew 3a, Abbey Wood

Bristol

BS34 8JH

Email

carly.williams713@mod.gov.uk

Country

United Kingdom