Official UK procurement notice
715958490 - EOD Enabling Support Contract
Authority: Defence Equipment and Support (Central government)
Sectors: Security, fire-fighting, police and defence equipment (35)Architecture & Engineering (71)Cleaning & Environmental Services (90) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Awarded value£16,666,667published award · exc. VAT
Award in standstill Not publishedno call for competition
Award (standstill) to NP Aerospace Limited
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Ministry of Defence (the “Authority”) intends to award a contract to NP Aerospace Limited (“the Supplier”) for the provision of Service Life Extension and Through Life Support through an enabling support contract for the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bomb Suits (the “Equipment”) and its associated In Service Support (“ISS”) through to the planned Out of Service Date in 2035.
The contract has an estimated value of £20,000,000 including VAT. The contract will be for an intial 5 year duration with 4 x 1-year options available to the Authority, potentially extending the Contract up to nine (“9”) years.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Lot 1Awarded
35113400 Protective and safety clothing35812200 Combat suits71317100 Fire and explosion protection and control consultancy services90523200 Bomb-disposal services
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Direct award
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Defence & security
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award — no call for competition
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- No (one-off requirement)
- First published
- 28 Sept 2026, 10:53 BST
- Last source update
- 28 Sept 2026, 10:53 BST
- Authority reference
715958490- Latest notice
- Transparency notice (UK5)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077b46
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Technical Reasons; Additional Repeat Extension Partial Replacement; Defence Security Operational
- Published justification
The Ministry of Defence (the “Authority”) intends to award a contract to NP Aerospace Limited (“the Supplier”) for the provision of Service Life Extension and Through Life Support through an enabling support contract for the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Bomb Suits (the “Equipment”) and its associated In Service Support (“ISS”) through to the planned Out of Service Date in 2035. The contract has an estimated value of more…
£20,000,000 including VAT. The contract will be for nine (“9”) years. In accordance with Section 41(1)(a) of the Procurement Act 2023 (the “Act”), the Authority intends to rely on the Single Supplier direct award justification, as set out in Paragraph 6 and Paragraph 7 of Schedule 5 of the Act, to award a public contract directly to the Supplier not being an excluded Supplier. It is considered that a direct award is permissible under the Act on the basis that, due to an absence of competition for technical reasons and the incompatibility of services by alternative suppliers, only the Supplier can carry out the services and there are no alternatives to those goods, services or works for the following reasons: The Supplier is the Original Equipment Manufacturer (“OEM”) and Design Authority for the current in-service EOD Bomb Suit/Equipment capability. - As OEM, only the Supplier has the necessary technical knowledge and capability to undertake the required safety-critical analysis, design assurance activities, post-design services, obsolescence management and life-extension activities associated with the equipment. - A change of supplier would create significant technical and operational risks, including incompatibility with the current Equipment design baseline, disruption to established safety assurance arrangements, additional qualification and certification activity, duplication of costs, and unacceptable delays to the delivery of critical capability. - Such disruption would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in both operation and maintenance and would undermine the Authority's ability to maintain assured EOD protection capability of the Equipment. - The interoperability and integration issues created through the introduction of a new supplier would result in services incompatible with the existing goods, services or works and would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation and/or maintenance of the Equipment. Accordingly, the Supplier is considered as the only supplier that can provide the services and there are no alternatives to those services as required by the Authority. The contract will not be awarded to an excluded supplier. A Contract Award Notice and Contract Details Notice will follow in accordance with Procurement Act 2023.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics — not a forecastAwards 1some still in standstill
Awarded value £16,666,6671 award exc. VAT
| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| NP Aerospace LimitedSME23 Oct 2026 — 22 Oct 2031 · up to 22 Oct 2035Extensions: 4 x 1-year options to extend the Contract to a maximum of 9 years, as required to retain operational capability. · Options: options included to procure further quantities of all related equipment for the in-service capability. | £16,666,667 | — | Standstill |
Notice history
2 events · 1 release on Find a Tender · since 28 Sept 2026- Contract signature expected23 Oct 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Transparency notice published28 Sept 2026, 10:53 BSTUK5
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- NP Aerospace LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (2)
Official links; attachments are not copiedTender pack and attachments
- Conflict of interest declarationNot published
Notices published for this procedure
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender