Award

GENFLY Refresh

  • Ministry of Defence

F15: Voluntary ex ante transparency notice

Notice identifier: 2024/S 000-034275

Procurement identifier (OCID): ocds-h6vhtk-04b06d

Published 23 October 2024, 10:57am



Section one: Contracting authority/entity

one.1) Name and addresses

Ministry of Defence

MOD Abbey Wood, Walnut 2B

Bristol

BS34 8JH

Contact

FsAST Project Team

Email

DESFsAST-ComrclMailbox@mod.gov.uk

Country

United Kingdom

Region code

UK - United Kingdom

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

GENFLY Refresh

two.1.2) Main CPV code

  • 80660000 - Training and simulation in military electronic systems

two.1.3) Type of contract

Services

two.1.4) Short description

The Flight Simulation and Synthetic Training (FsAST) Team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a contract for the refresh of the hardware and software on the Generic Flying Controls Trainer (GENFLY) Rigs at RAF Cosford to remove obsolescence impacting functionality and training to the Original Equipment Manufacturer.

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: £4,900,000

two.2) Description

two.2.3) Place of performance

NUTS codes
  • UK - United Kingdom

two.2.4) Description of the procurement

The Flight Simulation and Synthetic Training Team, part of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (“the Authority”) intends to place a new contract with Pennant International Ltd (“Pennant”) for the refurbishment and renewal of the Generic Flying Controls Trainer (GENFLY). The Authority intends to place a new contract with Pennant for a value of up to c£6,000,000 for a period of up to 5 years. In accordance with Regulation 4 of The Defence and Security Public Contracts (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI No.2019/697) this procurement shall be regulated under the provisions of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (DSPCR 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 this contract can be placed using the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice pursuant to Reg 16 (1)(a)(ii) of the DSPCR 2011 on the basis that no economic operator aside from Pennant is capable of meeting the Authority’s requirements for technical and exclusive rights reasons, as the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Pennant has specific proprietary know how that would be required to meet the user needs including but not limited to, Software design, Human machine interface design, Scale mechanical and hydraulic components and the sending and sequencing of software commands to physical hardware. The high level faults from the control system need to replicate aircraft, and if reverse engineered incorrectly, any mistakes or inaccuracies on the ground training system could cause risk to life when this training is applied in an operational environment. In addition, the intellectual property including the design and interface data necessitated to complete the works required to meet the User need is not held or owned by the Authority and such is not transferable to a third party.

two.2.5) Award criteria

Price

two.2.11) Information about options

Options: Yes

Description of options

Option 1: Refresh and deliver second GENFLY Rig

Option 2: Refresh and deliver third GENFLY Rig

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:

The Flight Simulation and Synthetic Training Team, part of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence (“the Authority”) intends to place a new contract with Pennant International Ltd (“Pennant”) for the refurbishment and renewal of the Generic Flying Controls Trainer (GENFLY). The Authority intends to place a new contract with Pennant for a value of up to c£6,000,000 for a period of up to 5 years. In accordance with Regulation 4 of The Defence and Security Public Contracts (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI No.2019/697) this procurement shall be regulated under the provisions of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (DSPCR 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 this contract can be placed using the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice pursuant to Reg 16 (1)(a)(ii) of the DSPCR 2011 on the basis that no economic operator aside from Pennant is capable of meeting the Authority’s requirements for technical and exclusive rights reasons, as the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). Pennant has specific proprietary know how that would be required to meet the user needs including but not limited to, Software design, Human machine interface design, Scale mechanical and hydraulic components and the sending and sequencing of software commands to physical hardware. The high level faults from the control system need to replicate aircraft, and if reverse engineered incorrectly, any mistakes or inaccuracies on the ground training system could cause risk to life when this training is applied in an operational environment. In addition, the intellectual property including the design and interface data necessitated to complete the works required to meet the User need is not held or owned by the Authority and such is not transferable to a third party.

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

712275451

Title

GENFLY Refresh

A contract/lot is awarded: Yes

five.2) Award of contract/concession

five.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract

23 October 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

Pennant International Ltd

Unit D1, Staverton Connection, Old Gloucester Road

Cheltenham

GL51 0TF

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: £4,900,000

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

Ministry of Defence

Bristol

Country

United Kingdom