Future opportunity

Concepts of Operation for future use of AUVs - Prior Information

  • Ministry of Defence

F01: Prior information notice (prior information only)

Notice reference: 2021/S 000-028279

Published 11 November 2021, 10:45pm



Section one: Contracting authority

one.1) Name and addresses

Ministry of Defence

Portsmouth

Email

NAVYCOMRCL-MEPG@mod.gov.uk

Country

United Kingdom

NUTS code

UK - United Kingdom

Internet address(es)

Main address

https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/royal-navy-procurement

one.3) Communication

Additional information can be obtained from the above-mentioned address

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

Concepts of Operation for future use of AUVs - Prior Information

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 79000000 - Business services: law, marketing, consulting, recruitment, printing and security

two.1.3) Type of contract

Services

two.1.4) Short description

The Royal Navy will shortly be issuing a contract opportunity notice for a requirement to develop Concepts of Operation (CONOPS) for the future use of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV). This PIN is intended to give notice to the market of the upcoming contract opportunity and provide the opportunity for collaboration within industry.

two.1.5) Estimated total value

Value excluding VAT: £400,000

two.1.6) Information about lots

This contract is divided into lots: No

two.2) Description

two.2.2) Additional CPV code(s)

  • 73400000 - Research and Development services on security and defence materials

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UK - United Kingdom

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

The Royal Navy will shortly be issuing a contract opportunity notice for a requirement to develop Concepts of Operation (CONOPS) for the future use of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV). This PIN is intended to give notice to the market of the upcoming contract opportunity.

The requirement needs to be delivered by the end of the financial year 21/22 and is expected to have a budget of £0.4m (Ex VAT), the upcoming notice will be OFFICIAL however the contract deliverables will be classified SECRET.

Due to the volume of work in the timeframe the Authority sees benefit in putting potential suppliers in contact with each other to facilitate collaboration and consortium bids. As such, any organisations who are interested in the contract and might be interested in collaborating, who also hold (or could hold by January 1st 2022) suitable security clearance are encouraged to email their contact details to NAVYCOMRCL-MEPG@mod.gov.uk. On November 22nd those details will be shared between the interested organisations. Please confirm in that email your name, organisation, job role and if the required SECRET clearance is ‘currently held’ or ‘could be held’.

For the avoidance of doubt, the Authority will accept single bidders for the contract. There is no requirement to undertake the above collaboration or to submit your contact details in the way outlined above to bid.

The contract will comprise of three non-lethal mission sets (Anti-Submarine/Surface Warfare; Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance; and Seabed Warfare); these will be used by the study to consider AUV operational employment over the next 30 years. In each of the three cases, the output comprises a CONOPS including the full range of operational employment of vehicle and systems and an outline of the likely operational constraints, particularly technical challenges.

The CONOPS will be presented in the form of a Joint Concept Note; there is no prescribed format but a logical structure along the following lines is recommended. A short concept production paper will be provided to aid the process. As a guide, the concept should be no more than 50 A4 pages including foreword, preface, and lexicon; with the addition of cover sheets, pictures, and editorial processing the final published form should not exceed 70 pages.

a. Preface. These should incorporate the purpose, context, aims and assumptions.

b. Describe the problem. The drivers for the concept and the operational environment should be explained.

c. Detail of the Concept. The themes and ideas within the concept should be ordered and articulated to provide insights and impacts. Analysis using the Defence Capability Framework will focus the work and ensure the product is comprehensive.

d. Implications for Capability Delivery across the Defence Lines of Development (DLODs).

e. Conclusions and Recommendations.

two.3) Estimated date of publication of contract notice

3 December 2021


Section four. Procedure

four.1) Description

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

The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: No