Section one: Contracting authority
one.1) Name and addresses
MINISTRY OF DEFENCE
Holderness House,51-61 Clifton Street
LONDON
EC2A4DW
Contact
Keiran Jones
Telephone
+44 2392725856
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
UKI - London
Internet address(es)
Main address
https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-defence
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
Logistic Drone Swarm Experimentation
Reference number
701549389
two.1.2) Main CPV code
- 48900000 - Miscellaneous software package and computer systems
two.1.3) Type of contract
Supplies
two.1.4) Short description
1. This contract sees leading edge experimentation with BBSR to integrate their edge processing swarming software architecture onto Royal Marine experimental UAVs being employed as modular air vehicles for Find, Lift, Protect and Strike missions
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: £625,000
two.2) Description
two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)
- 48000000 - Software package and information systems
two.2.3) Place of performance
NUTS codes
- UKK - South West (England)
two.2.4) Description of the procurement
1. This contract sees leading edge experimentation with BBSR to integrate their edge processing swarming software architecture onto Royal Marine experimental UAVs being employed as modular air vehicles for Find, Lift, Protect and Strike missions, and automating a multirole ground surveillance camera being trialled. Both pieces of hardware have competed procurements underway for the FCF, reinforcing the importance of this proposal.
a. Platform integration of BBSR Centurion software onto 8 x Malloy TRV-150 & Podview ground camera:
CONOPS definition workshops & report
System architecture (First Draft)
Interface definitions - Blue Bear (Smart Connect) / Malloy (T150) interface definition
8 SmartConnect boxes
Bluebear primed sub-contract to Malloy Aeronautics for their integration and support work and flight testing on 8x TRV150s
MPU5 (data link) integration and compatibility test with RN MPU5s and quick tech note report.
Smart connect platform integration onto PodView camera & deliver 1 x camera to user & demonstrate edge processing on Centurion & demonstrate object based recognition algorithm to acquire vehicles & personnel.
Blue Bear primed sub-contract to Overview Ltd for the supply of the PodView camera systems and hardware support/engineering effort required for integration for production of deployable prototype operating Centurion software & edge-processing AI recognition analytics for acquisition and classification of personnel and vehicles
b. User training on BBSR Centurion of 15 ranks from 40 Cdo and Cdo Logs Regiment
One-week training course for CDO personnel
Consolidation training flying system in synthetic environment on Centurion
c. Development and submission of beyond visual line of sight (BLOS) operational safety case into the CAA to authorise UK experimentation to cover two events.
BVLOS OSC designed and submitted. Needs to be done ASAP to try and get approved it in time.
d. Trials & safety support to enable tactical swarm experimentation with frontline users:
8 days with 3 Cdo Bde UAV operators on MOD training estate
e. Digital logistic demand development:
Development & delivery of logistics software plugin to enable automated 'on demand' tactical resupply from multiple task-loaded TRV-150s.
FCF CSS ConOps integration work into Centurion and behaviour development
two.2.5) Award criteria
Price
two.2.11) Information about options
Options: No
Section four. Procedure
four.1) Description
four.1.1) Type of procedure
Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below
- The services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
- absence of competition for technical reasons
Explanation:
The JHub team, part of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (MoD), intends to award a 4-month contract from March 2021 to July 2021 (with a value of £625,000) to Blue Bear Systems Research Ltd (BBSR) to supply nine micro-computers and bespoke 'swarming' software and integrate them onto existing Royal Marine Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), which are used as logistic resupply vehicles.
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 Defence and Security Public Contract Regulations 2011 for technical reasons.
This is because BBSR's 'swarming' system is the only system considered to have the proven ability to a) connect with any existing UAV with minimal integration; and b) control multiple UAVs to operate autonomously in 'swarms'. BBSR is also the only company to have been granted permission from the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) to conduct 'swarm' flights of up to 20 UAVs in UK airspace, which is required in order to conduct the necessary flight trials.
four.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement (GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: Yes
four.2) Administrative information
four.2.1) Previous publication concerning this procedure
Notice number: 2021/S 000-004495
Section five. Award of contract
Contract No
701549389
Title
Logistic Drone Swarm Experimentation
A contract/lot is awarded: Yes
five.2) Award of contract
five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract
17 March 2021
five.2.2) Information about tenders
Number of tenders received: 1
The contract has been awarded to a group of economic operators: No
five.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Blue Bear Systems Research
Oakley
Country
United Kingdom
NUTS code
- UKH2 - Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire
The contractor is an SME
Yes
five.2.4) Information on value of contract/lot (excluding VAT)
Total value of the contract/lot: £625,000
Section six. Complementary information
six.4) Procedures for review
six.4.1) Review body
MOD
London
Country
United Kingdom