Find a TenderPlanned procurementPipeline notice
Published 5 Aug 2026, 14:54 BST

Official UK procurement notice

PST/05904 - Ground Training Aids at RNSFDO - F-35 Full Scale Replicas

Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)

GoodsSME suitable
Planned pipeline value£1,600,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 30 Nov 2026from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 1 yrends 1 Jan 2028 · starts 1 Jan 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Royal Naval School of Flight Deck Operations’ (RNSFDO) ability to deliver safe, effective aircraft handling and Flight Deck training is fundamentally dependent on access to modern, representative training aids. Dedicated F-35 Ground Training Aids (GTAs) are essential to ensure training remains current, realistic, and aligned with the aircraft routinely embarked in Royal Navy aviation-capable platforms. The value of realistic, hands-on training is particularly relevant given the significant operational and financial risks associated with aircraft movement on the Flight Deck. The procurement of a purpose-built F-35 Ground Training Aid (GTA) would significantly enhance RNSFDO’s ability to deliver realistic, risk-reduced aircraft handling training. By providing a representative platform that accurately reflects the dimensions, configuration, and handling characteristics of the operational aircraft, personnel would be able to develop and rehearse critical ground movement skills in a controlled environment before working with live assets.

CPV: Training aids and devices

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 1 yrSME
Contract period: 1 Jan 2027 – 1 Jan 2028 (1 yr)
Eligibility: SME eligible

Who is likely to bid for this lot ↓

Pipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published

How Ministry of Defence buys School furniture (CPV 3916), 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: School furniture (CPV 3916) →

1

How the contest usually goes

Winner shares use published awards; bid and price charts use contested lots.

Question for the bid
This buyerMinistry of Defence · division 39
What to do with it
How often do SMEs win?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 4 of 7 known-size awards · market: CPV 3916 · UK-wide, n=15
57%53%

Small firms have won here. Neither number says whether you qualify; it describes who has been winning.

How often do local suppliers win?
i

How often local firms win similar work.

Winners with a registered address in the delivery region, out of awards with a known address.

Here, local means the winner is registered in the region where that contract was delivered.

A local branch does not count if the registered address is elsewhere.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 1 of 3 known-location awards · market: CPV 3916 · UK-wide, n=26
1 of 342%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside South East England.

How long to a decision?
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.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 94 decided notices · market: division 39 · South East England (authority’s region), n=14
50 days40 days

Half of these awards were announced within 50 days of the bid deadline.

How often single-bid or direct?
i

How often work is awarded with no recorded rival.

Direct awards and tenders where every published lot count shows one bid.

Both shares are minimums: some awards have no bid count.

Thin markets produce this too; it is not proof of a tailored specification.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: at least 3 of 13 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 3916 · UK-wide, n=36
23%50%

Missing bid counts may hide more single-bid awards. This share is a minimum.

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer275 lots with bid counts · all categories
46% had one bid
The market23 lots with bid counts · division 39 · South East England (authority’s region)
4% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid46% / 4%
Buyer: 127 of 275 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 23 lots with published bid counts.
2–331% / 13%
Buyer: 86 of 275 lots with published bid counts. Market: 3 of 23 lots with published bid counts.
4–617% / 43%
Buyer: 48 of 275 lots with published bid counts. Market: 10 of 23 lots with published bid counts.
7+5% / 39%
Buyer: 14 of 275 lots with published bid counts. Market: 9 of 23 lots with published bid counts.

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer89 lots with estimate and award · all categories
62% below estimate
The market5 lots with estimate and award · CPV 3916 · UK-wide
60% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate62% / 60%
Buyer: 55 of 89 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 3 of 5 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%22% / 40%
Buyer: 20 of 89 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 2 of 5 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate16% / 0%
Buyer: 14 of 89 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 0 of 5 lots with an estimate and award.
2

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.

Open a lot for its forecast, this buyer’s previous supplier and possible competitors, from published award history, not a bid list

Lot #1CPV 391612 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£1.6m
Expected competition
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 23 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet4% single-bid risk
Past bids on 23 similar lots
1 bid4%
1 of 23 similar past lots received 1 bid (4%).
2–313%
3 of 23 similar past lots received 2–3 (13%).
4–643%
10 of 23 similar past lots received 4–6 (43%).
7+39%
9 of 23 similar past lots received 7+ (39%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 6 bids.
Commercial price forecast
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.

—No model forecast yet
No comparable awards on record for this lot’s category yet. The published estimate is £1.6m, and the forecast stays empty until the market has a record to read.

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.

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.

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
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Goods
Notice status
Planned procurement
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
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
5 Aug 2026, 14:54 BST
Last source update
5 Aug 2026, 14:54 BST
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-074271
Latest notice
Pipeline notice (UK1)
Classification (CPV)
Training aids and devices
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06dc98 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

5 Aug 2026 → 1 Jan 2027 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published76 days ago
    5 Aug 2026, 14:54 BST
  2. Today
    20 Oct 2026
  3. Tender notice expectedin 41 days
    30 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT
  4. Contract startsin 72 days
    1 Jan 2027

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender
  1. Pipeline notice published
    5 Aug 2026, 14:54 BST
    UK1

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

Ministry of Defence

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PHVX-4316-ZVGZ Navy Commercial, NCHQ, Whale Island, Portsmouth, South East, PO2 8BYContact email

Official documents & specifications (1)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure

  • Pipeline notice planningPipeline noticeUK1Pipeline notice on Find a Tender