Official UK procurement notice
Project Corvus - Procurement of an Uncrewed Air System to support the Army Land Tactical Deep Find 24-hr Persistent Surveillance RequirementDeep Find
Authority: National Armament Director Group (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionProject Corvus - Procurement of an Uncrewed Air System Capability to support the Army Land Tactical Deep Find 24-hr Persistent Surveillance Requirement.
On 31st July 2025 Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), now National Armaments Director Group, published a UK 4 Tender Notice (Notice Identifier: 2025/S 000-044898) on the Find a Tender Service (FTS) Platform to inform the market that it intended to run a procurement for Project CORVUS under the competitive flexible procedure of the Procurement Act 2023. The Authority subsequently issued the Project Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) and invited 18 Bidders to respond to an Invitation to Tender (ITT).
By the ITT closing date (13th February 2026) 8 Bidders had submitted a response to the ITT, however none of these responses were suitable.
The Authority is now following the process as set out in Section 43 the Procurement Act of 2023. Section 43 of the Procurement Act 2023 permits a contracting authority, in certain circumstances, to switch from a competitive tendering procedure to a direct award. The Authority has considered the statutory conditions for reliance on section 43 and has concluded that they are satisfied in this case. In particular, the Authority considers that no suitable tender was received under the Procurement, as none of the tenders received satisfied the Authority's mandatory requirements when assessed by reference to the stated assessment methodology. The Authority has also concluded that a further competitive tendering procedure would not be possible in the circumstances, for operational reasons. The Authority therefore considers that a direct award under section 43 is justified and compliant with the Procurement Act 2023.
As a result, and following the process in section 43(5), the Authority intends to award the Contract to Tekever Ltd as the only bidder in the Procurement to pass Stage 1 (Tender Board and Completeness Check), Stage 2 (Affordability Check), and Stage 3 (PASS/FAIL Tender Criteria) Question PF02 (Ability to Deliver Task Line 1) and also to submit detailed evidence supporting all of its technical responses.
Tekever Ltd are not an "Excludable" or "Excluded" supplier in accordance with the Act.
The estimated date the contract will be signed (subject to approvals) is 31 August 2026, however this may be subject to change
The standstill period begins upon the publication of this notice (5 August 2026) and ends 8 working days later on 14 August 2026 @ 23.59 GMT.
Any changes to this will be communicated by issuing a correction/amendment notice.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Awarded
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
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 24 Jul 2026, 12:26 BST
- Last source update
- 14 Oct 2026, 15:14 BST
- Authority reference
UAS/00122- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-097115- Latest notice
- Contract details notice (UK7)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06d322Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Switching Direct Award
- Published justification
Project Corvus - Procurement of an Uncrewed Air System Capability to support the Army Land Tactical Deep Find 24-hr Persistent Surveillance Requirement.
On 31st July 2025 Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), now National Armaments Director Group, published a UK 4 Tender Notice (Notice Identifier: 2025/S 000-044898) on the Find a Tender Service (FTS) Platform to inform the market that it intended to run a procurement for Project CORVUS under the competitive flexible procedure of the Procurement Act 2023. The Authority subsequently issued the Project Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) and invited 18 Bidders to respond to an Invitation to Tender (ITT).
By the ITT closing date (13th February 2026) 8 Bidders had submitted a response to the ITT, however none of these responses were suitable.
The Authority is now following the process as set out in Section 43 the Procurement Act of 2023. Section 43 of the Procurement Act 2023 permits a contracting authority, in certain circumstances, to switch from a competitive tendering procedure to a direct award. The Authority has considered the statutory conditions for reliance on section 43 and has concluded that they are satisfied in this case. In particular, the Authority considers that no suitable tender was received under the Procurement, as none of the tenders received satisfied the Authority's mandatory requirements when assessed by reference to the stated assessment methodology. The Authority has also concluded that a further competitive tendering procedure would not be possible in the circumstances, for operational reasons. The Authority therefore considers that a direct award under section 43 is justified and compliant with the Procurement Act 2023.
As a result, and following the process in section 43(5), the Authority intends to award the Contract to Tekever Ltd as the only bidder in the Procurement to pass Stage 1 (Tender Board and Completeness Check), Stage 2 (Affordability Check), and Stage 3 (PASS/FAIL Tender Criteria) Question PF02 (Ability to Deliver Task Line 1) and also to submit detailed evidence supporting all of its technical responses.
Tekever Ltd are not an "Excludable" or "Excluded" supplier in accordance with the Act.
Notice history
4 events · 3 releases on Find a Tender · since 24 Jul 2026- Transparency notice published24 Jul 2026, 12:26 BSTUK5
- Contract award notice published5 Aug 2026, 14:04 BSTUK6
- Contract signature expected31 Aug 2026, 23:59 BSTscheduled
- Contract details notice published14 Oct 2026, 15:14 BSTUK7
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| TEKEVER LTDProject Corvus - Procurement of an Uncrewed Air System capability to support the Army Land Tactical Deep Find Requirement31 Aug 2026 – 31 Aug 2031 · up to 31 Aug 2036Extensions: The Customer initially requires 2 x Task Lines, each able to provide 24 hours of persistent surveillance. The CORVUS capability will require to be supported for 5 years from Minimum Deployable Capability. There will be Contractual Options included to increase the number of Task Lines and extended years of support (additional 5 years) should the capability prove its cost effectiveness. · Options: The Customer initially requires 2 x Task Lines, each able to provide 24 hours of persistent surveillance. The CORVUS capability will require to be supported for 5 years from Minimum Deployable Capability. There will be Contractual Options included to increase the number of Task Lines and extended years of support (additional 5 years) should the capability prove its cost effectiveness. | £220,000,000 | 24 Jul 2026 | Awarded |
Contracts
Project Corvus - Procurement of an Uncrewed Air System capability to support the Army Land Tactical Deep Find Requirement · TEKEVER LTD
- Signed
- 31 Aug 2026
- Value
- £220,000,000
- Period
- 31 Aug 2026 – 31 Aug 2031 · up to 31 Aug 2036 with extensions
- Status
- active
- Extensions
- The Customer initially requires 2 x Task Lines, each able to provide 24 hours of persistent surveillance. The CORVUS capability will require to be supported for 5 years from Minimum Deployable Capability. There will be Contractual Options included to increase the number of Task Lines and extended years of support (additional 5 years) should the capability prove its cost effectiveness.
- Options
- The Customer initially requires 2 x Task Lines, each able to provide 24 hours of persistent surveillance. The CORVUS capability will require to be supported for 5 years from Minimum Deployable Capability. There will be Contractual Options included to increase the number of Task Lines and extended years of support (additional 5 years) should the capability prove its cost effectiveness.
6 agreed KPIs: KPI 1 - Spares Demands and Repairs Demands · KPI 3 - Technical Enquiries · KPI 4 - Reliability and Maintainability …
- KPI 1 - Spares Demands and Repairs Demands, The Contractor shall Satisfy all Spares Purchase Orders and Repairs Demands that were satisfied by the relevant RDD (from the Logistics Support date - Task Line 1).
- KPI 3 - Technical Enquiries, The Contractor shall Resolve all Technical Enquiries within the Resolution Time (from Contract Award).
- KPI 4 - Reliability and Maintainability, The Contractor shall deliver and support an Air System that shall be capable of achieving a 90% Probability of Mission Success (from Equipment Delivery Date).
- KPI 2 - Spares Modelling, The Contractor shall ensure that each Contractor Demand Forecast is accurate and reflective of the Customer Requirements (reported from Year 3 onward)
- KPI 5 - Innovation (Spiral Development), The Contractor shall actively consider, explore, research and identify Innovation and Innovation Opportunities and present such insights at the JTWG for the Authority’s consideration (from 1 Sept 2027).
- KPI 6 - Social Value and Supply Chain Security, The Contractor shall achieve a rating of Meeting Target for the Delivery Objectives (for both Social Values and Supply Chain Security) in each Contract Year (from Contract Award).
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Tekever LtdAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (3)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Contract details notice Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- Contract award notice Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender