GUARDIAN UK Delivery and In-Service Support

Description

Object of the Contract: The UK Ministry of Defence intends to place a new Qualifying Defence Contract SACC/00110 for 3 years (one year Delivery and two years In-Service Support) with the Contractor. The Contract is for the provision of Supply Integration and initial support of the Air Command and Control (Air C2) System for the UK and Falkland Islands, a system known as GUARDIAN. The Contract has a value of c. £30M (Ex VAT). 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 DSPCR 2011 for technical reasons. Explanation: This is a continuation of an existing requirement, and this contract will be placed with the incumbent supplier to deliver the GUARDIAN system to Full Operating Capability (FOC). The GUARDIAN system is critical to the Air Defence. This Contract will bring GUARDIAN to FOC in the UK and following this will provide a period of In-Service Support. Competition is absent for technical reasons because the Contractor, as the original equipment manufacturer, is the only economic operator with the specific knowledge of the GUARDIAN system to be able to support such equipment at this stage of its development, without giving rise to incompatibility and safety issues. When FOC has been achieved, the Contracting Authority will review its contracting strategy with a view to competing the ongoing support of the GUARDIAN system.