701712461 - CSAT Phase 1 MCN

The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) replaced its fleet of BAe146 transport aircraft stationed at RAF Northolt in June 2022, with 2 x New Dassault Falcon 900LX business jets, by adopting a procurement strategy featuring two phases:

Phase 1: Competitive procurement of two new civil jets with an in-service support package that runs until Sep 2026. These aircraft are owned by the MoD but operated on the Civil Aircraft Register (CAR) and initially operated by a contractor. Phase 1 also included the training of military pilots and cabin crew and the use of these service personnel to complement the civilian pilots in the delivery of the service.

Phase 2: A separate competitive procurement for the embodiment of military modifications onto the aircraft, from 1 Oct 2026 (subject to further take-up of contract options), and provision of in-service support through to Apr 2037, utilising military personnel in the operation of the aircraft, under the Military Aircraft Register (MAR).

NB – this Contract Notice is concerned exclusively with Phase 2. Quantity or scope: The current CSAT fleet consists of 2 x Envoy IV Aircraft (Dassault Falcon 900LX) based at RAF Northolt. Although the Envoy IV are currently operated on the Civilian Aircraft Register (CAR), the intention is to transfer Envoy IV onto the Military Aircraft Register (MAR) prior to the start of the new contract.

Scope comprises two key requirements:

1. Provision of a fully inclusive in-service support solution to support and maintain the Envoy IV Aircraft through to planned OSD of Apr 2037, utilising military personnel in the operation of the aircraft.
2. Design and embodiment of military modifications onto the aircraft and ensure certification of airworthiness under MAR, to enable the aircraft to be operated in military airspace and in a non-benign environment. The modifications will be subject to the outcome of a requirements review.

The contract shall be for a term of 5 (five) initial years with options to extend by a further 6 (six) years (taken in single or multiple year intervals).

This contract is being procured under Regulation 18 (Negotiated Procedure) of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011.

The Defence Sourcing Portal (DSP) will be used to manage the procurement process, including evaluation. Access to the DSP is required to complete the DPQQ and access should be requested via the Supplier Registration Page on the DSP.

Following DPQQ evaluation, the Authority intends to invite a maximum of the 4 (four) highest scoring respondents to the ITN phase. Following submission and assessment of the written Initial Tender submissions, all technically and commercially compliant bidders may be invited to a negotiation phase. However, the Authority reserves the right to award the Contract to the Most Economically Advantageous Tender (MEAT) in accordance with the scoring criteria following evaluation of the tenders, without undertaking a negotiation phase.

The Authority anticipates issuing the ITN in December 2024, followed by a bidders’ conference to be held in the UK. Contract award is forecast for March 2026 with contract start in October 2026, though the Authority reserves the right to amend the timetable from time to time.

The Authority trades using the electronic ‘Contracting, Purchasing & Finance’ system (CP&F). Before completing the DPQQ, any interested parties should ensure that they have the ability to trade electronically, and the willingness connect to the CP&F System in the event of being successful.

A Cyber Risk Assessment has been conducted for this requirement to ascertain the level of Cyber Risk present. The result of this assessment is that a Cyber Risk level of 'Low’ exists and therefore successful respondents invited to ITN will need to hold a Cyber Essentials [Plus] certificate and undertake a Cyber Risk Assessment on their proposed supply chain. Respondents can verify their readiness to comply with opportunities bearing this Cyber Risk Level by completing a Cyber Risk Assessment using RAR code: RAR-303384308.

To note: The issue of this Contract Notice (CN) or any future ITN or ITN material is not a commitment by the Authority to place a contract as a result of this competition, or at a later stage. Any expenditure, work or effort undertaken prior to any offer and subsequent acceptance of contract, is a matter solely for your commercial judgement. The Authority has conducted previous industry engagement using Defence Contracts Online (DCO), with a Request for Information (RFI) published in April 2023 and industry day held in July 2023.