701553383 - JES/00138 - ARDENT WOLF

The Authority has a requirement for the delivery, installation and in-service support of a new Maritime Communications Electronic Support Measures (CESM) capability to be fitted to the Type 23 frigates. ARDENT WOLF (AW) will replace the current CESM capability on the Type 23 frigates, utilising the extant available infrastructure. Subject to internal approval, the ARDENT WOLF contract will deliver a minimum of seven (7) systems and support a solution that consists mostly of readily available Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) product, that is at a high Technical Readiness Level (TRL).

The scope of support requirement includes but is not limited to: Equipment installation/ embodiment, repair and maintenance, spares provisioning, calibration, system and design safety, contractor logistics support, training, security accreditation, capability resilience, reliability, documentation management, possible solution updates and upgrades, and potential future ad-hoc tasking.

Contract Duration/ Value

The anticipated duration is six (6) years from Contract Award. The final confirmed duration including any Contractual option(s), and/ or break points will be provided in the Invitation to Negotiate documentation.

The estimated value of Contract represents the estimated minimum and maximum values of the Contract. The maximum figure is only an estimate 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, support provisioning through this Contract should the requirement arise.

Process:

The Authority requests that companies that wish to take part in the Competitive procurement process and receive the ARDENT WOLF Pre-Qualification Questionnaire (PQQ) should express an interest to the Authority Points of Contact above. The PQQ will be provided to your organisation via the Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) following receipt of your interest and confirmation of your organisation's details below. The closing date for submission of your organisations interest is: 17:00 BST Thursday 10th June 2021. The Authority reserves the right to refuse access to the PQQ where suitable clearances are not provided.

When registering an interest in this event, please include the following details:

• Company/Organisations name
• Point of Contact full name
• Security Clearance details (clearance level and reference number - to be provided by the Company security officer).
• Nationality
• Date of Birth
• RLI email address

Procurement process Indicative time frames (subject to confirmation/ change by the Authority):

• Expression of Interest to this Contract Notice to gain access to the PQQ by: 17:00pm BST Thu 10th June 2021
• PQQ release: June 2021
• PQQ return: July 2021
• Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) Issued: September 2021
• Contract Award: April 2022

General

Due to the security aspects of the requirement, the requirement is Limited to UK organisations only. As part of the tendering process organisations with non-UK supply chains, subcontractors, parent organisations may be expected to demonstrate their policies and procedures for both controlling/ handling UK information, and the ability for AW to interface with Above Secret systems.

Any potential future procurement exercise will be exempt from the Defence and Securities Public Contract Regulations 2011 (DSPCR) pursuant to Regulation 6 (3A)(a) in conjunction with Regulation 7 (1) (a) of the DSPCR. Therefore no rights, duties, obligations or liabilities arising from DSCPR 2011 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 apply to this opportunity.

It is envisaged that the procurement process will follow the overarching principles of an Invitation to Negotiate procedure. The Authority therefore reserves the right to negotiate any aspects of a potential future tendering process, however 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.

Selection Criteria:

Potential providers will be required to complete the PQQ to provide the Authority with information to evaluate interested parties capacity and capability against the selection criteria.

The Authority will use the PQQ response to create a shortlist (maximum of 6 tenderers) of tenderers who:

(1) are eligible to participate;

(2) fulfil any minimum economic, financial, professional and technical standards; and

(3) best meet in terms of capacity and capability the selection criteria set out in the PQQ.

Full details of the method for choosing the tenderers will be set out in the PQQ.

Potential providers will be required to provide evidence to demonstrate that they can meet the Authorities requirements. Tenderers which do not meet the minimum requirements set out in the PQQ will be excluded from any future involvement in the competitive procurement process.

The Authority reserves the right to reject any subcontractor chosen by the Potential Provider at any stage of the procurement procedure or during performance of the contract.

Currency: GBP

Duration of Contract: 6 years

Lots: No

Electronic Trading on CP&F: Yes

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 pass the PQQ stage.

Potential suppliers must note the mandatory requirement for electronic trading using the Contracting,

Purchasing and Finance (CP&F) electronic procurement tool. All payments for Contractor Deliverables under the Contract shall only be made via CP&F. You can find details on CP&F at

www.gov.uk/government/publicati… ↗

system.

Prospective suppliers will be required to hold List X status at Contract Award. When expressing your interest please confirm that the company is both List X (or Provisional List X), or is willing to achieve this for Contract Award, and has a connection to the RLI network. Companies which fail to confirm this will not be invited to any future stage.