715726466 Viking Combined Support Contract - UK5 Transparency Notice

The Dismounted Close Combat Delivery Team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence, has placed a 5-year contract with Viking Arms Ltd for the Combined Support, Supply and Repair of the in-service fleet of Glock weapons and supporting ancillaries with the provision to procure additional systems if required.

The Contract was placed under the Procurement Act 2023 using the Direct Award procedure under Schedule 5 Paragraph 6. This was because the chosen supplier was the sole UK agent for the Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) and Design Authority (DA) for the Glock Ges.m.b.H. family of weapons, as well as the services provided by L3Harris Technologies, Inc., Leupold & Stevens, Inc., and Radar Leather Division S.r.L. The Authority is amending the contract to include O.F. Mossberg & Sons Inc.. Viking Arms Ltd is the sole UK representative for O.F. Mossberg & Sons Inc., as such, remains the only economic entity with the necessary technical data, knowledge and expertise, and proprietary documentation maintained by the relevant DA. These are all fundamental in order to provide the required technical support, assure any repairs, and undertake any Post Design Services to underwrite any changes or modifications in compliance with the OEMs’ quality assurance controls and measures that maintains operational performance and effectiveness of the weapons.

Without access to the proprietary documentation, technical drawings, tooling and test equipment, specific manufacturing processes and knowledge and expertise, any goods or services provided by another entity would require new testing, new verification and validation to ensure that the safety and suitability for service of the weapons, operational performance and effectiveness, and the interoperability with other weapons and platforms is not compromised and that the Safety Case for the system is not invalidated. A change of supplier would also oblige the Authority to acquire goods having different technical characteristics, resulting in incompatibility between the existing platforms and weapons, affecting the support, technical publications and documentation, user training, and logistics of a multiple platform fleet from that already provided and currently in-service. There would also be disproportionate cost, time and technical difficulties incurred to the Authority associated with introducing new items into the Authority’s supply chain and inventory.