Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 5 Jun 2026, 16:15 BST

Official UK procurement notice

RFI - Ground Based Radar Testing UK2

Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)

GoodsAbove thresholdSME suitable
Sectors: Security, fire-fighting, police and defence equipment (35) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Planned pipeline valueValue not publishedpipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected Date not publishedfrom the planned procurement notice
Contract term 1 yr 6 moends 3 Mar 2029 · starts 1 Sept 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Air Defence & Maritime Radar (AD&MR) Delivery Team, part of the National Armaments Director (NAD) Group, is issuing a Request For Information (RFI) to help inform the Authority’s strategy for this requirement and is NOT part of any procurement procedure.

The method used by the Ministry of Defence (MOD) to evaluate the detection and accuracy of Air Defence (AD) Radars is through flight checking. A ground-based alternative is being considered to replicate the flight check and improve scientific and engineering rigour around the results obtained.

Industry’s responses to this RFI will be used to inform a number of elements in the procurement strategy, such as the Commercial Model, requirement writing and setting, budget and the IP strategy. Should the Authority wish to seek clarification or ask questions in relation to a RFI response, suppliers will be contacted on an individual, case by case basis.

The Authority reserves the right to supplement and adjust the prior engagement process to ensure that it meets the Authority's needs. If the Authority makes changes to the engagement process, it will do so in a transparent manner to ensure that all suppliers who have expressed an interest are treated equally.

Any participation in this market engagement phase and any response to this RFI is entirely at the participant's cost and risk. The MOD is under no obligation to proceed with a formal procurement or in any other way proceed with the procurement.

CPV: Radar

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Planned 1 yr 6 moSME
Contract period: 1 Sept 2027 – 3 Mar 2029 (1 yr 6 mo)
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 Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (CPV 3572), 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: Intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance (CPV 3572) →

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 35
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: 27 of 78 known-size awards · market: CPV 3572 · UK-wide, n=13
35%8%

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 registered in South East England (authority’s region).

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 11 of 17 known-location awards · market: division 35 · South East England (authority’s region), n=78
65%37%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered in 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 35 · South East England (authority’s region), n=8
50 days87 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 43 of 77 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 3572 · UK-wide, n=17
56%71%

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.

Last 36 months.

This buyer21 lots with bid counts · broad CPV 35
62% had one bid
The market5 lots with bid counts · CPV 3572 · UK-wide
80% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid62% / 80%
Buyer: 13 of 21 lots with published bid counts. Market: 4 of 5 lots with published bid counts.
2–314% / 20%
Buyer: 3 of 21 lots with published bid counts. Market: 1 of 5 lots with published bid counts.
4–65% / 0%
Buyer: 1 of 21 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 5 lots with published bid counts.
7+19% / 0%
Buyer: 4 of 21 lots with published bid counts. Market: 0 of 5 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 buyer5 lots with estimate and award · broad CPV 35
80% below estimate
The market62 lots with estimate and award · division 35 · UK-wide
47% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate80% / 47%
Buyer: 4 of 5 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 29 of 62 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%20% / 39%
Buyer: 1 of 5 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 24 of 62 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate0% / 15%
Buyer: 0 of 5 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 9 of 62 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 357218 monthsSME suitableEstimate not published
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 12 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet25% single-bid risk
Past bids on 12 similar lots
1 bid25%
3 of 12 similar past lots received 1 bid (25%).
2–350%
6 of 12 similar past lots received 2–3 (50%).
4–617%
2 of 12 similar past lots received 4–6 (17%).
7+8%
1 of 12 similar past lots received 7+ (8%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 2.5 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.

—Estimate not published
The buyer published no estimate for this lot, so there is nothing to forecast against. A price prediction here would be a number about a number we do not have.

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
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
5 Jun 2026, 16:15 BST
Last source update
5 Jun 2026, 16:17 BST
Authority reference
715869483
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-053502
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Radar
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06af19 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

5 Jun 2026 → 1 Sept 2027 · 3 dates
  1. Planning notice published137 days ago
    5 Jun 2026, 16:15 BST
  2. Market engagement63 days ago
    18 Aug 2026, 23:59 BST

    Engagement will take the form of responses to the questions in the RFI document, available online on the Defence Sourcing Portal at: contracts.mod.uk ↗

    The deadline for RFI responses and Clarification Questions is 17:00 on 18th August 2026.

    RFI submissions and Clarification Questions must be sent via email to the AD&MR DT Commercial Officer at: [email protected]

    Should the Authority wish to seek clarification or ask questions in relation to a RFI response, suppliers will be contacted on an individual, case by case basis.

    The Authority reserves the right to supplement and adjust the prior engagement process to ensure that it meets the Authority's needs. If the Authority makes changes to the engagement process, it will do so in a transparent manner to ensure that all suppliers who have expressed an interest are treated equally.

  3. Today
    21 Oct 2026
  4. Contract startsin 315 days
    1 Sept 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 5 Jun 2026
  1. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    5 Jun 2026, 16:15 BST
    UK2
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    5 Jun 2026, 16:17 BST
    UK2

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 RAF Henlow, Henlow, East of England, SG16 6DNContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure