Royal Navy Diving Threat Exploitation Group - Integration & Support of Neptune Autonomy Software

CPV: IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

Procedure method

Negotiated without publication of a contract notice

Legal basis

CELEX · 32009L0081 Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (Directive 2009/81/EC)

Procurement category

Services

Notice status

Awarded

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

6 Dec 2022, 15:20 GMT

Last source update

6 Dec 2022, 15:20 GMT

Authority reference

701558388-1

FTS notice number

2022/S 000-034522

Classification (CPV)

IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

Delivery area

Scotland (UKM75)

Official registry OCID

ocds-h6vhtk-038b1f Find a Tender

Why no open competition

The products involved are manufactured purely for the purpose of research, experiment, study or development under the conditions stated in the directive; 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 Mine Hunting Capability (MHC) Team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), intends to place an amendment to the current Autonomy Software Integration and Support Contract (Contract Reference: 701558388) with SeeByte Limited (SeeByte) for the integration of a common autonomy software solution into the equipment of the Royal Navy (RN) Diving Threat Exploitation Group (DTXG). The integration of this common autonomy software solution will involve the provision of software, its installation into the DTXG equipment and any low-level software development required over the contract term. The term of the proposed contract amendment will be for 15 months but this period will fall within the original term of the MHC Autonomy Software Integration and Support Contract. The maximum total value of the proposed amendment will not exceed £2m for the entire 15-month period. This will increase the total value of the MHC Autonomy Software Integration and Support contract to £4m.

Currently, this DTXG equipment does not utilise a common protocol of technology and software, and subsequently cannot be integrated into the system architecture that is being developed as part of the wider MHC programme. This software solution is namely Neptune, which has been solely developed by and is only available via SeeByte. Neptune enables autonomy behaviours for Unmanned Vehicles and equipment to work collaboratively and effectively for the purpose of Maritime Mine Countermeasures and underwater intelligent surveillance and reconnaissance. The software also enables features such as: Low-Level mission planning, Autonomous missions and Mine Threat Identification and classification.

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 the award of the contract amendment without prior publication of a contract notice in the UK e-notification service (in accordance with the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the DSPCR 2011 (as amended) for Technical Reasons. This is because only SeeByte’s Neptune software can meet the MoD’s requirements and only SeeByte, as the original software developer, can install it into the DTXG equipment and carry out any necessary low level software development activities. To ensure the appropriate level of commonality, compatibility and supportability, it is deemed that the DTXG requirement for integration of a common autonomy software solution must be delivered via the Neptune suite of software available from SeeByte. The Neptune software is the current solution already being integrated into existing MHC platforms, and is also in use by a number of UK Allies. The requirement for inter-operability with these other platforms is a critical factor in the successful integration into, and future functionality of, the DTXG equipment.

As the developer of the Neptune suite of software, only SeeByte Ltd possess the requisite access to the applicable software source code to be integrated into the DTXG equipment, and the requisite tools and technical ability to modify the software as may become necessary during the course of that integration.

• SeeByte LtdAwarded supplier Orchard Brae House, 30 Queensferry Road, Edinburgh, Scotland, EH4 2HS

No document links were published on the notice.