Awarded contract

PROVISION AND SUPPORT OF A BODY ARMOUR LOAD CARRIAGE SYSTEM (BALCS)

  • Ministry of Defence

F15: Voluntary ex ante transparency notice

Notice reference: 2024/S 000-007382

Published 7 March 2024, 3:27pm



Section one: Contracting authority/entity

one.1) Name and addresses

Ministry of Defence

Bristol

Email

max.board100@mod.gov.uk

Country

United Kingdom

NUTS code

UKK - South West (England)

Internet address(es)

Main address

www.contracts.mod.uk

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

PROVISION AND SUPPORT OF A BODY ARMOUR LOAD CARRIAGE SYSTEM (BALCS)

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 35113400 - Protective and safety clothing

two.1.3) Type of contract

Supplies

two.1.4) Short description

PROVISION AND SUPPORT OF A BODY ARMOUR LOAD CARRIAGE SYSTEM (BALCS)

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: £11,000,000

two.2) Description

two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)

  • 18132000 - Flying clothing
  • 18143000 - Protective gear
  • 35815000 - Garments for anti-ballistic protection

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UK - United Kingdom

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

1. The Air Commodities Delivery Team (ACDT) within Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), part of the UK Ministry of Defence, (“the Authority”) intends to award a Contract to Level Peaks Associates Ltd (LPA) (“the Contractor”) for the provision of continuing support of the Body Armour Load Carriage System (BALCS) for the Air Defence Environment.

2. The contract will be for a maximum of seven (7) years. The estimated contract value is circa £11M.

3. The purpose of the Contract is to procure, upgrade and maintain the current equipment provided by a through life Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) solution including but not limited to Servicing, Post Design Services & Maintenance.

two.2.5) Award criteria

Price

two.2.11) Information about options

Options: Yes

Description of options

Two (2) costed 1-year options, which will follow the initial five (5) year contract period.

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

  • 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:

1. The Air Commodities Delivery Team (ACDT) within Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), part of the UK Ministry of Defence, (“the Authority”) intends to award a Contract to Level Peaks Associates Ltd (LPA) (“the Contractor”) for the provision of continuing support of the Body Armour Load Carriage System (BALCS) for the Air Defence Environment.

2. The contract will be for a maximum of seven (7) years. The estimated contract value is circa £11M.

3. The purpose of the Contract is to procure, upgrade and maintain the current equipment provided by a through life Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) solution including but not limited to Servicing, Post Design Services & Maintenance.

4. 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 (in accordance with the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 for technical reasons.

5. LPA possesses the relevant technical knowledge and holds the sole distribution rights for the provision of BALCS related equipment to the UK Ministry of Defence. The Authority has insufficient rights to pass the necessary data and information to a third party to undertake the requirement, hence LPA is the only economic operator that can provide continued support including to required Military Aviation Authority (MAA) airworthiness standards and certification of the safety and interoperability of the equipment necessary for through-life maintenance.

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

710463450

Title

PROVISION AND SUPPORT OF A BODY ARMOUR LOAD CARRIAGE SYSTEM (BALCS)

A contract/lot is awarded: Yes

five.2) Award of contract/concession

five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract

7 March 2024

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

Level Peaks Associates Ltd

Hereford

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)

Total value of the contract/lot/concession: £11,000,000

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

Air Commodities Delivery Team (ACDT)

Bristol

Country

United Kingdom