Official UK procurement notice
Contract Award Notice (CAN) for Archer Artillery System Short Term (9 months) In -Service Support Contract
Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionINTERIM 155 CAPABILITY PROJECT – Archer Artillery System Short Term (9 months) In-Service Support Contract
The Secretary of State for Defence, acting through the Interim 155 Capability Team of the Ministry of Defence (the “Authority”) informs of the Authority’s intention to award BAE Systems Bofors AB an Archer Artillery System Short Term In-Service Support Contract for the Archer Artillery Systems, commencing in November 2025 , addressing equipment and components via technical design and configuring the Archer Artillery System, providing training, maintenance, repair, obsolescence and configuration management of the Archer Artillery Systems for a short term period of 9 months. The estimated value of the contract is £4.8m.
Please note this Contract was awarded on January 13th 2026
CPV: Repair and maintenance services of weapons and weapon systems
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment,…Awarded
The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment, study or development
The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator for the following reason:
absence of competition for technical reasons
Explanation:
INTERIM 155 CAPABILITY PROJECT – Archer Artillery System Short Term (9 months) In-Service Support Contract
The Secretary of State for Defence, acting through the Interim 155 Capability Team of the Ministry of Defence (the “Authority”) informs of the Authority’s intention to award BAE Systems Bofors AB an Archer Artillery System Short Term In-Service Support Contract for the Archer Artillery Systems, commencing in November 2025 , addressing equipment and components via technical design and configuring the Archer Artillery System, providing training, maintenance, repair, obsolescence and configuration management of the Archer Artillery Systems for a short term period of 9 months. The estimated value of the contract is £4.8m.
In accordance with regulation 4 of The Defence and Security Public Contracts (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/697) this procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 as amended (in particular by SI 2019/697 and SI 2020/1450). Prior publication of a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union is no longer appropriate.
It is considered that award of the contract using the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice in the UK e-notification service (as required by relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 for technical reasons.
The Archer Artillery System is designed, developed and supported solely by BAE Systems Bofors AB. Only BAE Systems Bofors AB have the necessary and specific technological skills, knowledge in the underlying design and expertise to be able to provide support services required by the MOD to deliver the required outputs of the Interim 155 Capability Project. As the Design Authority (DA) and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), BAE Systems Bofors AB have ownership of essential drawings, technology and are only manufacturer of long lead bespoke items. The Authority does not have sufficient rights to provide such data to any third party.
BAE Systems Bofors AB are the only company that can combine technical re-design with maintenance and repair activities with the requirement for supporting the equipment. No other party has the necessary technical expertise and knowledge required to support the equipment and access to proprietary design information and specialist tooling and testing equipment such that only they can provide an acceptable safety case to the reasonable satisfaction of the Authority.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition
- Legal basis
- CELEX · 32014L0024 Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (Directive 2014/24/EU)
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Awarded without competition
- Procurement threshold
- Unspecified in notice
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 12 Feb 2025, 19:17 GMT
- Last source update
- 5 Feb 2026, 09:17 GMT
- Authority reference
714034453- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-010259- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-04de5dFind a Tender
- Why no open competition
No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests to participate in response to restricted procedure; The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons
- Published justification
The Secretary of State for Defence, acting through the Interim 155 Capability Team of the Ministry of Defence (the “Authority”) informs of the Authority’s intention to award BAE Systems Bofors AB an Archer Artillery System short term In-Service Support Contract for the Archer Artillery Systems, commencing in November 2025 , addressing equipment and components via technical design and configuring the Archer Artillery System, providing training, maintenance, repair, obsolescence and configuration management of the Archer Artillery Systems for a short term period of 9 months. The estimated value of the contract is £4.8m.
In accordance with regulation 4 of The Defence and Security Public Contracts (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/697) this procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 as amended (in particular by SI 2019/697 and SI 2020/1450). Prior publication of a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union is no longer appropriate.
It is considered that award of the contract using the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice in the UK e-notification service (as required by relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 for technical reasons.
The Archer Artillery System is designed, developed and supported solely by BAE Systems Bofors AB. Only BAE Systems Bofors AB have the necessary and specific technological skills, knowledge in the underlying design and expertise to be able to provide support services required by the MOD to deliver the required outputs of the Interim 155 Capability Project. As the Design Authority (DA) and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM), BAE Systems Bofors AB have ownership of essential drawings, technology and are only manufacturer of long lead bespoke items. The Authority does not have sufficient rights to provide such data to any third party.
BAE Systems Bofors AB are the only company that can combine technical re-design with maintenance and repair activities with the requirement for supporting the equipment. No other party has the necessary technical expertise and knowledge required to support the equipment and access to proprietary design information and specialist tooling and testing equipment such that only they can provide an acceptable safety case to the reasonable satisfaction of the Authority.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAE Systems Bofors ABSubcontracting: declared | £4,800,000 †same award published again · counted once | — | Awarded |
| BAE Systems Bofors ABArcher Artillery System Short Term (9 months) In -Service Support Contract | £4,800,000 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Archer Artillery System Short Term (9 months) In -Service Support Contract · BAE Systems Bofors AB
- Signed
- 13 Jan 2026
- Value
- £4,800,000
- Status
- active
Contract 004830-2025-1 · BAE Systems Bofors AB
- Signed
- 11 Feb 2025
- Value
- £4,800,000
- Status
- active
Bid statistics published by the authority
| Bids | SME | VCSE | Valid bid range |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1bids | — | — | — |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Interim 155 Capability TeamMediation bodyReview body
- The High Court of England and WalesReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- BAE Systems Bofors ABAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.