United Kingdom-Bristol: Procurement of 75x High Mobility Truck Variant (HMTV) Platforms and associated support items

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom
Publication Ref: (2022/S 000-028118/EN)
Nature of contract: Supply contract
Procedure: Negotiated without a call for competition
Type of bid required: Not applicable

Voluntary ex ante transparency notice
Supplies

Section I: Contracting authority
I.1) Name and addresses
Official name: Ministry of Defence
Postal address: Vehicle Support Team, Cedar 1A #4110, MOD Abbey Wood South
Town: Bristol
Postal code: BS34 8JH
Country: United Kingdom
Contact Person: Ian Hamblin
Telephone: +44 3067988244
Email: ian.hamblin523@mod.gov.uk
Internet address(es):
Main address:

I.4) Type of the contracting authority
Ministry or any other national or federal authority, including their regional or local sub-divisions
I.5) Main activity
Defence

Section II: Object
II.1) Scope of the procurement
II.1.1) Title: Procurement of 75x High Mobility Truck Variant (HMTV) Platforms and associated support items
II.1.2) Main CPV code: 35410000
II.1.3) Type of contract Supplies
II.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.
II.1.6) Information about lots
The contract is divided into lots: no
II.1.7) Total value of the procurement(excluding VAT)
Value:60000000.00
Currency:GBP
II.2) Description
II.2.3) Place of performance
Nuts code: Main site or place of performance:Supacat Limited
The Airfield
Dunkeswell
Devon
EX14 4LF

II.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.

II.2.5) Award criteria
II.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.

II.2.13) Information about European Union funds
The procurement is related to a project and/or programme financed by European Union funds: no
II.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 IV: Procedure
IV.1) Description
IV.1.1) Type of procedure
Negotiated procedure without publication of a contract notice(in accordance with Article 28 of Directive 2009/81/EU)
IV.1.8) Information about the Government Procurement Agreement(GPA)
The procurement is covered by the Government Procurement Agreement: no
IV.2) Administrative information

Section V: Award of contract/concession
Contract No: 705131450
Title: Procurement of 75x High Mobility Truck Variant (HMTV) Platforms and associated support items

V.2) Award of contract/concession
V.2.1) Date of conclusion of the contract/concession award decision:2022-10-06
V.2.2) Information about tenders
V.2.3) Name and address of the contractor
Official name: Supacat Limited
Postal address: The Airfield
Town: Dunkeswell
Postal code: EX14 4LF
Country: United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 1404891777
Email: info-uk@supacat.com
Nuts code:
The contractor is an SME: yes

V.2.4) Information on value of the contract/lot/concession(excluding VAT)
for framework agreements – total maximum value for this lot
for contracts based on framework agreements, if required – value of contract(s) for this lot not included in
previous contract award notices
V.2.5) Information about subcontracting
The contract/lot/concession is likely to be subcontracted
Value or proportion likely to be subcontracted to third parties

Section VI: Complementary informationVI.4) Procedures for review
VI.4.1) Review body
Official name: Anj Cooke DES LE VS-Comrcl-Exec
Postal address: Vehicle Support Team, Cedar 1A #4110, MOD Abbey Wood South
Town: Bristol
Postal code: BS34 8JH
Country: United Kingdom
E-mail: Anj.Cooke108@mod.gov.uk

VI.5) Date of dispatch of this notice:
2022-10-06

Justification for the award of the contract without prior publication of a call for
competition in the Official Journal of the European Union
1.Justification for the choice of the negotiated procedure without publication of a call for competition in accordance with
Article 28 of Directive 2009/81/EU

The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment,study or development under the conditions
stated in the directive(for services and supplies only)
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
absence of competition for technical reasons

3.Explanation
Please explain in a clear and comprehensive manner why the award of the contract without prior publication in the Official Journal of the European Union
is lawful, by stating the relevant facts and, as appropriate, the conclusions of law in accordance with the directive:
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.