Official UK procurement notice
Provision of Pilot and Aircraft services for the RAF Falcons Parachute Display Team
Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionPlease note this is not a call for competition, this is a Planned Procurement Notice - the PROVISION OF UK BASED LIGHT AIRCRAFT FOR THE DELIVERY OF RAF FALCONS PARACHUTING ACTIVITY
The proposed contract commencing 1st March 2027 to 28th February 2030 with seasons/training from 1st Mar to 31st OCT
i. A light aircraft (ac), 1 x full time pilot and associated support enablers to deliver up to 130 flying hours per year to enable RAF Falcons Parachute Activity (FPA), in order to meet the training demand for and delivery of the Parachute Display Seasons.
ii. A Light ac capable of meeting extant Release-to-Service (RTS) requirements for the dispatch of military Freefall (FF) manually deployed parachutes, detailed in the Compendium of Airborne Equipment Release Certificates (CAERC) and confirmed by Trials & Evaluation (T&E) undertaken by the Joint Aerial Delivery Test and Evaluation Unit Parachute Test Team (JADTEU PTT).
iii. As required by the Authority, up to 90 Fire and Crash Cover (FCC) hours (30 per season). Provision of tender and support vehicles, associated crash equipment and extinguishing consumables and provision of a suitably qualified and experienced FCC crews. The Contractor will be required to plan and coordinate FCC accordingly. The Contractor will be responsible for determining the suitability of all operating a/f and that such facilities allow the appropriate level of crash cover iaw ICAO / DSA02 and DSA03 for light ac.
To establish supplier interest for this potential requirement please contact [email protected] to register your interest.
You must not take this Planned Procurement Notice to mean confirmation that the Authority shall award a contract for this requirement. The Authority is publishing this announcement without any commitment to issue a tender or place a contract. Accordingly, any expenditure, work or effort undertaken before contract award is a matter solely for the commercial judgement of potential suppliers.
CPV: Hire of aircraft with crew
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · value publishedLot #1PlannedPublished value£1,555,968
Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Ministry of Defence buys Non-scheduled air transport services (CPV 6042), and who usually turns up
Ministry of Defence’s own published record, next to the published market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are kept out: they attract a different number of bids. Whole-market view: Non-scheduled air transport services (CPV 6042) →
How the contest usually goes
Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.
i
How often small and medium firms win.
Share of awards where the winner’s size is known.
The counts under this question show how many awards have a known supplier size.
Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.
i
How often local firms win similar work.
Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.
A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.
No winner locations published for this authority. Local means a registered address in the delivery region.
i
How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.
Middle value in days from the deadline to the first award notice, on competitions that published both dates.
Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.
Half of these awards were announced within 50 days of the bid deadline.
i
How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.
Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.
The buyer’s share is a minimum: some awards have no bid count.
Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.
Direct awards or one recorded bid are common here. Check the route before spending time on a bid.
How many bids did past lots attract?
i
How many bids past lots received.
Each colour is a bid-count range. Only competed lots with a published count are included.
Past bids do not predict this tender.
1 bid46%
2–332%
4–617%
7+5%
How did awards compare with estimates?
i
Where winning prices landed against estimates.
Each colour shows awards below, close to or above the published estimate, one lot at a time.
Past prices are a guide, not a bid price.
Below estimate61%
Within ±2%22%
Above estimate17%
Assess each lot i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
i
What past awards tell you about each lot.
See the forecast, this buyer’s earlier suppliers and firms with relevant wins.
No supplier is confirmed as a bidder.
Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list
Lot #1CPV 6042Published estimate£1.6m
i
How many bids this lot may attract.
The forecast uses similar past competitions. The bar shows either that forecast or past bid counts; the line below says which.
Each lot shows its own forecast based on its own category; forecasts for different lots of the same notice are not comparative. The bar shows 533 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid21%
2–331%
4–626%
7+22%
i
Where the award price may land.
The forecast uses similar awards and the buyer’s estimate. The band covers the middle half of likely prices.
No comparable awards for this lot yet.
A statistical guide from past awards, not a price to bid.
Who has supplied this buyer on similar work? i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
i
Who has done similar work for this buyer.
Past contracts are matched by buyer, title and type of work.
A past supplier may not bid again.
No earlier contract of this buyer matches this lot on the published record.
Who could compete for this lot? i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
i
Who could compete for this lot?
Firms with relevant past wins. On a framework, we show firms on that agreement.
None is confirmed as a bidder.
Candidate suppliers for this notice have not been worked out yet, so this is not a verdict that nobody fits.
About this data
- Source. Official UK public procurement notices (Find a Tender), reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. New notices arrive through the day; the figures are rebuilt nightly.
- Two views, kept apart. The authority’s own track record and the wider market for the same kind of work sit side by side and are never mixed. Where the local picture is too thin, a figure widens to a broader market and says which one it used.
- Forecasts are labelled. The price forecast and its range, possible competitors and the earlier-work matches are our estimates from past awards: not published facts, not win chances and not price advice. Official notices do not say who is bidding.
- Every figure shows what it rests on. Not every notice publishes a bid count, a value or a delivery region, so each figure carries the number of records behind it, and one built on few records is marked as such. The on a figure explains it; the counting rules are in the methodology. Spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- Procedure method
- Open procedure
- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Services
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Above threshold (FTS publication)
- Regulatory regime
- Standard
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Competitive procedure
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 25 Jun 2026, 14:20 BST
- Last source update
- 25 Jun 2026, 14:20 BST
- Award evaluation window
- Submission end – 11 Jan 2027
- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-059889- Latest notice
- Planned procurement notice (UK3)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06bd2dFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- 16 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Electronic submission
- Allowed
- Accepted languages
- en
Timeline
25 Jun 2026 → 1 Mar 2027 · 5 dates- Planning notice published119 days ago25 Jun 2026, 14:20 BST
- Tender notice expected7 days ago14 Oct 2026, 23:59 BST
- Today22 Oct 2026
- Submission deadlinein 26 days16 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
- Award decision expected byin 82 days11 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
- Contract startsin 130 days1 Mar 2027
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Planned procurement notice published25 Jun 2026, 14:20 BSTUK3
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Pipeline notice- Awards (0)
- No award published
- Contracts (0)
- No contract published
- Bid statistics
- No aggregate bid statistics published
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Planned procurement notice Planned procurement notice on Find a Tender