Award

Procurement of 75x High Mobility Truck Variant (HMTV) Platforms and associated support items

  • Ministry of Defence

F15: Voluntary ex ante transparency notice

Notice identifier: 2022/S 000-028118

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-037385

Published 6 October 2022, 3:25pm



Section one: Contracting authority/entity

one.1) Name and addresses

Ministry of Defence

Vehicle Support Team, Cedar 1A #4110, MOD Abbey Wood South

Bristol

BS34 8JH

Contact

Ian Hamblin

Email

ian.hamblin523@mod.gov.uk

Telephone

+44 3067988244

Country

United Kingdom

Region code

UKK11 - Bristol, City of

Internet address(es)

Main address

https://des.mod.uk/contact-us/

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

Procurement of 75x High Mobility Truck Variant (HMTV) Platforms and associated support items

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 35410000 - Armoured military vehicles

two.1.3) Type of contract

Supplies

two.1.4) Short description

This contract will cover the procurement of additional High Mobility Tactical Vehicle (HMTV) platforms and associated support items to mitigate shortfalls against the current fleet as well as Future Soldier structures.

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: £60,000,000

two.2) Description

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UK - United Kingdom
Main site or place of performance

Supacat Limited

The Airfield

Dunkeswell

Devon

EX14 4LF

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

The Authority intends to award a contract to Supacat Limited for the procurement of additional HMTV Platforms and associated support items to mitigate shortfalls against the current fleet as well as Future Soldier structures. The Contract shall include options for additional quantities of platforms, noting that there is no obligation to invoke these. Estimated value excluding VAT: Range £60m and £250m Ex VAT covering the procurement of 75x platforms across FY22/23 and 23/24 and associated support items, such as Complete Equipment Schedule (CES) and Training Support. It is estimated that the initial contract for the 75x platforms and support will total between £60m - £100m Ex VAT. This may potentially increase by a further 165x platforms and therefore have a potential total value of £250m Ex VAT if contractual options are invoked, noting that the Authority has no obligation to do so, therefore increasing the Total Fleet Requirement to 240x platforms. Any future procurements would be subject to separate Business Case approval.

two.2.5) Award criteria

Price

two.2.11) Information about options

Options: Yes

Description of options

The initial contract will be for a 2-year period and shall contain options for additional quantities of HMTV platforms. Options shall be included for the Authority to procure additional platform quantities, noting there is no obligation on the Authority to invoke these. This will also require separate financial approval.

two.2.13) Information about European Union Funds

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

two.2.14) Additional information

Estimated value Ex VAT: Range £60m and £250m Ex VAT for procurement of 75 platforms in FY22/23 & 23/24. It is estimated that the initial contract for the 75 platforms and support will total between £60m-£100m Ex VAT. This may increase by 165 platforms and therefore have a potential total value of £250m Ex VAT if contractual options are invoked, noting that the Authority has no obligation to do so.


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:

The Vehicle Support Team (VST), as part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), intends to place a contract with Supacat Limited for the procurement of additional HMTV platforms and associated support items such as CES and training support. 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 (as required by 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. This is because procuring an alternative HMTV platform solution is not considered reasonable in this instance due to the significant additional technical and interoperability complexity that would be introduced, including but not limited to platform interoperability issues, including safe recovery procedures, safe transport procedures and safe integration with weapon systems, all of which are currently established for the current in-service Supacat Limited HMTV platforms and would introduce a level of risk that is not acceptable to the Authority. In addition, it would not meet the Authority’s requirement to introduce different platforms with different support solutions when deployed on contingent operations. Existing modifications and theatre specific role fits would not be compatible with an alternative platform without significant effort to integrate. Increased training burden associated with a mixed fleet of platforms which would include new training material to ensure safe operation of platforms does not meet the User’s requirement and set pre-deployment training activities. Supacat Limited are the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for the HMTV platform(s) and they are the sole manufacturer of the HMTV vehicles and owners of the IPR. The Authority does not own or have a right to obtain or provide to third parties the proprietary information and documentation regarding these platforms. Manufacture of these platforms by a third party is not considered possible without direct OEM support and access to the proprietary information Therefore, as the OEM, Supacat Limited are the only economic operator capable of manufacturing this capability and meeting this requirement. This vehicle is currently deployed on multiple Operations around the world and further procurement is required to mitigate shortfalls against the current fleet as well as Future Soldier structures. As such, procurement of anything other than the HMTV model from Supacat Limited would fail to meet the Authority’s requirement and would introduce a level of risk that is not acceptable to the Authority.

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

705131450

Title

Procurement of 75x High Mobility Truck Variant (HMTV) Platforms and associated support items

A contract/lot is awarded: Yes

five.2) Award of contract/concession

five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract

6 October 2022

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

Supacat Limited

The Airfield

Dunkeswell

EX14 4LF

Email

info-uk@supacat.com

Telephone

+44 1404891777

Country

United Kingdom

NUTS code
  • UKK4 - Devon
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: £60,000,000

Total value of the contract/lot/concession: £60,000,000

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

Anj Cooke DES LE VS-Comrcl-Exec

Vehicle Support Team, Cedar 1A #4110, MOD Abbey Wood South

Bristol

BS34 8JH

Email

Anj.Cooke108@mod.gov.uk

Country

United Kingdom