Procurement of Project POYNTING

Description

The Authority has a requirement for a tactical Cyber Electromagnetic Activities (CEMA) capability. POYNTING will deliver a first-in-class tactical CEMA Capability to Land Forces. The project is aligned with the Army Executive Committee endorsed Army Cyber Sub-Strategy and is to be delivered as part of the Land CEMA Programme (LCP). This capability will grow with the pace of change in global technology and adapt to global threats. The selected Prime will establish and manage an ecosystem of suppliers to deliver hardware and software and system integration of the CEMA capability. The Prime will manage the Ecosystem to deliver, through Capability Interventions, a capability that meets the system requirements. Subject to internal approval, the POYNTING Contract will deliver and support equipment sufficient to field a Squadron sized CEMA unit. The scope of support requirement includes but is not limited to: Equipment design, installation, repair and maintenance, spares provisioning, calibration, test and validation, experimentation and capability evolution, design safety, contractor logistics support, security accreditation, capability resilience, reliability, documentation management, through life updates and upgrades, and ad-hoc tasking. Ad-hoc tasking includes, but is not limited to, repairs, post-design services (PDS) and the procurement of additional systems, components, spares, and support. A more detailed description of the POYNTING contract requirements is contained in the OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Contract Notice; guidance on how to access this OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Contract Notice, along with the Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) and associated documentation, can be found below. The Cyber Risk level for this procurement is HIGH. The Risk Assessment Reference (RAR) is RAR- 266340629. A full description of the Cyber Risk levels is available at DEFSTAN 05-138. Potential Suppliers should make themselves familiar with the requirements against the profile assessment for this risk level. The anticipated Contract duration is four (4) years from Contract Award, with four (4) one-year Options to extend (8 years incl. Options). The value of the Contract is estimated to be between £78m and £148m. The lower figure is based on a four (4) year term, excluding Options. The higher figure represents a value inclusive of all four (4) Capability Interventions and all four (4) Option years. The final Contract value may be below the lower figure. The higher figure is an estimate of core activity and tasks placed under the Contract, and the total cumulative value of work placed through the Contract may be above or below this figure. The Authority reserves the right to procure additional systems, components, spares, and support provisioning through this Contract should the requirement arise. Security: The requirement for the Prime contractor is limited to UK Potential Suppliers only. As part of the tendering process, Potential Suppliers with non-UK supply chains, subcontractors and/or parent organisations etc. may be expected to demonstrate their policies and procedures for both controlling and handling UK information. Please note: elements of the ITN will be at SECRET and SECRET UK Eyes Only (SUKEO). Therefore, should a Potential Supplier be successful at PQQ stage, a member of its bid team will not be able to participate in subsequent stages of this Procurement (ITN etc.) unless said member is: a) a holder of SC clearance as a minimum (with DV required for certain elements depending on the classifications set out in the Security Aspects Letter (SAL)); and b) where applicable (i.e. if said member is handling SUKEO information), a UK National (not including dual nationality). Potential Suppliers will be required to hold full Facility Security Clearance (FSC) status and connection to the RLI network (or other MoD-accredited IT network) by Contract Award. NOTE: Provisional FSC is required in order to receive the ITN. Lot 1: A more detailed description can be found in the OFFICIAL-SENSITIVE Contract Notice and PQQ documents. This procurement will be exempt from the public procurement regime including, but not limited to, the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (“DSPCR”) pursuant to Regulation 6 (3A)(a) in conjunction with Regulation 7 (1)(a) of the DSPCR, the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (“PCR”), the Concession Contracts Regulations 2015 (“CCR”) and/or any domestic or international rules pertaining to public procurement, by virtue of the fact that the application of the DSPCR, PCR, CCR and/or any such domestic or international rules would oblige the United Kingdom to supply information the disclosure of which it considers contrary to the essential interests of its security. Therefore, no rights, duties, obligations or liabilities arising from DSCPR 2011 or any other regime will apply. By expressing an interest to participate in this PQQ and any potential future competition, you acknowledge that none of the obligations, rights and remedies deriving from the DSPCR and/or the public procurement regime apply to this opportunity. It is envisaged that the procurement process will be based on a similar structure to the Negotiated Procedure as described within the DSPCR, including the use of an ITN. Potential Suppliers will need to be successful at the PQQ down-select stage in order to receive the ITN. The Authority reserves the right to negotiate any aspects of a potential future tendering process; however, it does not bind itself to this. The Authority may, at its sole discretion: • In any way amend and/or cancel this PQQ/subsequent procurement process; • Withdraw this Contract Notice at any time for any reason; • Decide not to Award any contract to any bidder following the PQQ and ITN phases. The Authority does not bind itself to enter into any contract(s) arising out of the proceedings envisaged by this Contract Notice and no contractual rights express or implied arise out of this notice or the procedures envisaged by it. No compensation will be paid if the pre-qualification process or any resultant Tender are withdrawn for any reason. Potential Suppliers should take part in this process only on the basis that they fully understand and accept this position. Prospective contractors are required to hold Quality Management System certification to ISO 9001 or suitable alternative, with the appropriate scope to deliver contract requirements, issued by a Nationally Accredited Certification Body. You will be required to provide a copy of the certificate(s) as directed by any Dynamic Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (DPQQ) or Invitation to Tender/Negotiate (ITT/N) associated with this Notice, and in any event, the winning supplier will be required to provide it for review prior to contract award. Additional information: ITN Award Criteria: Most Economically Advantageous Tender, in terms of technical quality, cost, commercial compliance and social values. Full details of the evaluation process, contract award criteria and weightings against each criterion will be provided in the tender documentation to those Potential Suppliers who are successful at PQQ stage.