Contract

Contract Award Notice. Update of the APS

  • Ministry of Defence

F03: Contract award notice

Notice identifier: 2023/S 000-027601

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-0401e6

Published 19 September 2023, 11:27am



Section one: Contracting authority

one.1) Name and addresses

Ministry of Defence

Bristol

Email

sophie.hargreaves105@mod.gov.uk

Country

United Kingdom

Region code

UK - United Kingdom

Internet address(es)

Main address

https://des.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

Contract Award Notice. Update of the APS

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 35322300 - Towed artillery

two.1.3) Type of contract

Supplies

two.1.4) Short description

Update of the APS

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: £15,000,000

two.2) Description

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UK - United Kingdom

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

Updating of the obsolesce for the APS for the LG L118

two.2.5) Award criteria

Price

two.2.11) Information about options

Options: No

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

Award of a contract without prior publication of a call for competition in the cases listed below

  • The procurement falls outside the scope of application of the regulations

Explanation:

The LINAPS is a self-contained gun mounted navigation, pointing and weapon management system. It is integral to the performance and operational effectiveness of the Light Gun. Both physical and software components of the APS have suffered from obsolescence issues since it entered service in 1999. The APS is reliant on the additional information fed directly to it by the MVR.

As the OEM for the APS, Leonardo is the only supplier with the technical expertise in relation to the system and the bespoke diagnostic software required to perform the equipment support services. The detailed work undertaken to maintain the APS is broken down into the component parts and addressed below:

1. The INU internal GPS, gyro and operating boards must be upgraded. As component parts of the wider INU system, Leonardo, the OEM, hold the technical configuration information and expertise for the internal repair and upgrade of the system. This is sub-assembly repair, and therefore the OEM is the only provider able to upgrade the system without causing wider system failure.

2. The LDCU requires a hardware and software upgrade to run windows 10 for security accreditation and to resolve major issues to functionality. The upgraded LDCU must be compatible with the Laser Inertial Navigation Artillery Pointing System (LINAPS), a bespoke diagnostic software. This is a product created by Leonardo and is the critical integration piece to ensure the APS and Light Gun remain operational. Leonardo has a proven track record of completing these upgrades for the light gun in use by New Zealand and Canada. All the above sit within the APS, and therefore must be integrated with each other to maintain functionality of the system. As the OEM, Leonardo possesses the specific integration technical knowledge to conduct this work.

3. Though a separate piece of equipment, the MVR works directly with the APS Subsystems to provide data to the user. If MVR is not integrated with the wider APS, Light Gun will have significant loss of operational capability. The MVR is integral to the proper function of the APS. The MVR feeds information directly into the APS and is therefore equally reliant on the same integration with the LINAPS software as the sub-components of the APS to meet operational capability. There remains a very high technical risk to lack of integration of the MVR with LINAPS as the diagnostic system is bespoke and is owned and operated by Leonardo as the OEM. Should the MVR not be integrated correctly then the Light Gun can not meet full operational capability. This has a direct impact on the user should the gun be required on future operations.

It is considered that this contract can be placed using the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice pursuant to Article 28(1)(e) of Directive 2009/81/EC (Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the UK Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011) for technical reasons. This is because LMW is the designer and Original Equipment Manufacturer of the APS and the only supplier with the technical expertise in relation to the system and the bespoke diagnostic software required to perform the equipment support services.

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

Contract No

703219450

A contract/lot is awarded: Yes

five.2) Award of contract

five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract

6 September 2023

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

Leonardo UK Ltd

Edinburgh

Country

United Kingdom

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

No

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

Total value of the contract/lot: £15,000,000


Section six. Complementary information

six.4) Procedures for review

six.4.1) Review body

Defence Equipment & Support

Bristol

Country

United Kingdom