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AwardedFind a Tender · award

715112450 - Ballistic Testing Services - Personal Armour

Buyer: Defence Equipment and Support →

BuyerDefence Equipment and Support
StatusAwarded
DeadlineNot published
ValueValue not published
Published4 Aug 2026

What is being bought

This Tender Notice outlines the Authority's intent to competitively assess, select and award a contract to deliver Ballistic Testing Services for Personal Armour to support new to service projects and ensure through life support of Personal Armour provided to its Armed Forces Personnel. The contract will have a headroom of £10m (Inc VAT) and will be for 5 years with 3 x 1 optional years. The Ballistic Testing Service will serve as a dedicated platform to facilitate comprehensive testing and evaluation of Personal Armour systems. This service will encompass a wide range of protective equipment, including but not limited to Hard Armour Plates, Soft Armour Fillers, and Helmets. The testing process will ensure that these protective solutions meet established safety, durability, and performance standards under various conditions. By providing a structured and reliable pathway for ballistic testing, the service aims to support the development, validation, and certification of personal protective equipment, ensuring it meets operational requirements and offers optimal protection to users in diverse environments. For the provision of Ballistic Testing Services, it is a mandatory requirement that the contractor operates a facility located within the United Kingdom. This ensures accessibility, compliance with relevant UK regulations, and alignment with national security and operational standards. The ballistic testing will be conducted on an as-needed basis throughout the duration of the contract, with testing schedules determined by specific requirements or requests. The contractor must maintain readiness and flexibility to accommodate testing demands at any point during the contract period, ensuring timely and efficient service delivery to meet the needs of the programme. The Ballistic Testing Service competition mandates that participating laboratories must hold accreditation from the United Kingdom Accreditation Service (UKAS) to the ISO 17025 standard. This international standard specifies the general requirements for the competence, impartiality, and consistent operation of testing and calibration laboratories, ensuring the highest levels of quality and reliability in testing processes. Additionally, laboratories must demonstrate compliance with NATO AEP-2920, the Allied Engineering Publication that outlines the procedures and standards for evaluating the ballistic performance of personal armour systems. This dual requirement ensures that laboratories possess both the technical expertise and the operational capability to conduct ballistic testing to internationally recognised and NATO-specific standards, guaranteeing the accuracy, consistency, and credibility of the results. The competitive procurement will be managed in accordance with the Procurement Regulations 2024.

Lot details

Lot 1

No lot description published.

Statuscomplete
SME suitabilitySuitable for SMEs

Comparable-procurement analytics

No usable CPV category has been published, so a comparable market set cannot yet be built.

Procurement strategy & market signals

Framework agreementNot published
Dynamic purchasing systemNot published
Competitive procurementNot published
Recurring requirementNot published
Procurement method rationaleIt is considered that the direct award to the Supplier is permitted under Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 relying on the direct award justification set out in paragraph 6 of Schedule 5 for technical reasons. “6) The following conditions are met in relation to the public contract (a) due to an absence of competition for technical reasons, only a particular supplier can supply the goods, services or works required, and (b) there are no reasonable alternatives to those goods, services or works. The Authority has concluded that competition is absent for technical reasons because only Radnor Range Ltd possesses the necessary combination of accredited ballistic testing capability, facilities, expertise and capacity required to deliver the services in accordance with the Authority's operational requirements. No alternative supplier or substitute solution has been identified that is capable of meeting the requirement for the services required. Accordingly, the Authority considers that a direct award is permitted under Section 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 and Schedule 5, paragraph 6, as competition is absent for technical reasons.
Rationale classificationsswitchingDirectAward
Special regimedefenceSecurity
Covered byNot published
Submission policyNot published
Selection criteriaNot published
Risk detailsNot published

Planning & early market engagement

BudgetNot published
No-engagement rationaleNot published
Planning documents0
Planning milestones0

No planning milestones published.

Related procurements

RelationshipRelated procurement
unsuccessfulProcessocds-h6vhtk-056c18

Awards

1

Statuspending
Value£10,000,000
Contract periodFrom 11 Jan 2027 to 10 Jan 2032

Documents & submission route

  • Not published

Source data inventory

Diagnostic view. “Not published” means this current release does not provide a value.

OCIDocds-h6vhtk-06dbb2
Latest release ID073873-2026
Latest release timestampTue Aug 04 2026 15:36:59 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)
Sourcefind-a-tender
Official notice URLNot published
Tender statuscomplete
Procurement methoddirect
Procurement method detailsDirect award
Main procurement categoryNot published
Above thresholdNot published
Legal basis2023/54
Tender period: startNot published
Tender period: endNot published
Expression of interest deadlineNot published
Enquiry deadlineNot published
Award period: startNot published
Award period: endNot published
Submission method detailsNot published
Submission languagesNot published
Electronic catalogue policyNot published
Total tender valueNot published
Tender lots in source1
Tender items in source0
Tender documents in source1
Awards in latest release1
Contracts in latest release0
Parties in latest release3

Notice history

DateEventReference
4 Aug 2026award, contract073873-2026

All source data

Unmodified official OCDS data retained by Tenderline for this procurement process.

Complete current OCDS release JSON
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Complete JSON history (1 releases)
4 Aug 2026 · 073873-2026 · award, contract
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