Official UK procurement notice
Satellite Communications (SATCOM) for Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Platforms
Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Authority is undertaking Preliminary Market Engagement to understand the availability, maturity and feasibility of Satellite Communications (SATCOM) provide secure Beyond Line-of-Sight (BLoS) connectivity for Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations, enabling data exchange between the UAV and ground-based operators.
This activity is conducted in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 (Sections 16–17) and is for information gathering only. It does not form part of a formal tendering process and will not be used for supplier selection or down‑selection. Participation is voluntary. All communication related to this notice and form submission is at OFFICIAL.
Suppliers are invited to complete the following questionnaire to provide information on system capabilities, performance, navigation, deployment, interoperability, compliance, supportability and indicative commercial structures.
By submitting a response, suppliers confirm that all information provided is, to the best of their knowledge, true, complete and accurate.
The Authority may invite suppliers to follow‑on discussions where appropriate. Any future procurement activity will be conducted as a separate procurement process.
CPV: Satellite communications equipment · Satellite-related communications equipment · Unmanned aerial vehicles · Unmanned combat aerial vehicles
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedPipeline intelligence · planning stage: how this market runs before the tender is published
How Ministry of Defence buys Military aircrafts (CPV 3561), 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: Military aircrafts (CPV 3561) →
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.
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.
Most of this buyer’s recorded winners are registered outside West Midlands.
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.
Both shares are minimums: 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 bid62% / 22%
2–314% / 34%
4–65% / 28%
7+19% / 16%
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 estimate80% / 47%
Within ±2%20% / 39%
Above estimate0% / 15%
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 3561Estimate not published
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 145 past lots.
A forecast, not a list of bidders.
1 bid22%
2–334%
4–628%
7+16%
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- Legal basis
- UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
- Procurement category
- Goods
- Notice status
- Planned procurement
- Procurement threshold
- Below threshold
- 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
- 19 Oct 2026, 17:31 BST
- Last source update
- 19 Oct 2026, 17:31 BST
- Authority reference
PRJ0037762 RFI- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-098697- Latest notice
- Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Not published
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-078b3eFind a Tender
How it was run
Official notice- Submission deadline
- —
Timeline
19 Oct 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 3 dates- Planning notice published2 days ago19 Oct 2026, 17:31 BST
- Today21 Oct 2026
- Market engagementin 51 days11 Dec 2026, 23:59 GMT
The UK MOD is seeking information from suppliers capable of providing low SWaP Satellite Communications (SATCOM) solutions for Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle (UAV) platforms. This preliminary market engagement is intended to improve our understanding of available technologies, integration considerations, commercial models and potential future capability development.
We welcome responses from defence suppliers, SMEs and commercial SATCOM providers with relevant solutions or innovative approaches.
To receive the Request for Information (RFI), please contact:
Danielle Daley
Expressions of interest are requested by 26 October 2026.
Please note this is a market engagement activity only and does not constitute a procurement or invitation to tender.
- Contract startsin 161 days1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST
Notice history
1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender- Preliminary market engagement notice published19 Oct 2026, 17:31 BSTUK2
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
- Preliminary market engagement notice Preliminary market engagement notice on Find a Tender