Find a TenderAwarded without competitionTransparency notice
Published 18 Sept 2026, 11:51 BST

Official UK procurement notice

The Provision of Medium and Heavy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Remote Controlled Vehicles In-Service Support - UK5

Authority: Defence Equipment and Support (Central government)

Direct award
Sectors: Repair & Maintenance (50)Architecture & Engineering (71) Delivery: Delivery location not published
Awarded value £45,000,000published award · exc. VAT
Award in standstill Not publishedno call for competition
Award (standstill) to L3HARRIS TRL Technology Limited

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The Ministry of Defence (the “Authority”) intends to award a contract to L3 Harris TRL Technology Ltd (“the Supplier”) for the provision of post design services and in service support (together the “ISS”) for Medium (T4) and Heavy (T7) Explosive Ordnance Disposal Remote Controlled Vehicles (the “RCVs”).

The contract has an estimated value of £54,000,000, including VAT. The contract will be for eight (“8”) years with an additional three (“3”) one-year options.

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1Lot 1Awarded
50000000 Repair and maintenance services50111000 Fleet management, repair and maintenance services71320000 Engineering design services

Procedure terms & legal framework

From the official record
Procedure method
Direct award
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Notice status
Awarded without competition
Procurement threshold
Unspecified in notice
Regulatory regime
Standard
Commercial structure
Stand-alone contract (no framework)
Competition type
Direct award — no call for competition
GPA / WTO covered
Unspecified in notice
Recurring procurement
No (one-off requirement)
First published
18 Sept 2026, 11:51 BST
Last source update
18 Sept 2026, 11:51 BST
Authority reference
715878481
Latest notice
Transparency notice (UK5)
Delivery area
Not published
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-077548
Why no open competition
Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
Published justification
In accordance with Section 41(1)(a) of the Procurement Act 2023 (the “Act”), the Authority intends to rely on the Single Supplier direct award justification, as set out in Paragraph 6 of Schedule 5 of the Act, to award a public contract directly to the Supplier not being an excluded Supplier. It is considered that a direct award is permissible under the Act on the basis that, due to an absence of competition for more…technical reasons, only the Supplier can carry out the services. This is because the Supplier is a subsidiary of the OEM of the RCVs (L3 Harris) and therefore is the only operator that has the technical expertise and know-how of the equipment/RCVs to provide the required ISS to carry out in-depth fault identification, repair, and resolution and to assure reliability and safety of both RCV capabilities. Accordingly, the Supplier is considered as the only supplier that can provide the services required and there are no alternatives to those services as required by the Authority. The contract will not be awarded to an excluded supplier. A Contract Award Notice and Contract Details Notice will follow in accordance with Procurement Act 2023.

Commercial outcome & contract awards

Published awards, contracts and bid statistics — not a forecast
Awards 1some still in standstill
Awarded value £45,000,0001 award exc. VAT
Awarded toValueDateStatus
L3HARRIS TRL Technology LimitedThe Provision of Medium and Heavy Explosive Ordnance Disposal Remote Controlled Vehicles In-Service Support1 Apr 2027 — 31 Mar 2035 · up to 31 Mar 2038Extensions: three (“3”) one-year options · Options: Options for additional purchase of both the T4 and T7 RCVs shall be included£45,000,000Standstill

Notice history

2 events · 1 release on Find a Tender · since 18 Sept 2026
  1. Contract signature expected
    31 Mar 2027, 23:59 BSTscheduled
  2. Transparency notice published
    18 Sept 2026, 11:51 BSTUK5

Contracting authority & participating public bodies

Defence Equipment and Support

Contracting authorityPublic authority - central government GB-PPON: PVRL-5831-GLMM MOD Abbey Wood, Bristol, South West, BS34 8JH
View buyer profile →

Bidders & participating suppliers

1 commercial party on the notice

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Tender pack and attachments

  • Conflict of interest declarationtenderConflict of interest declarationNot published

Notices published for this procedure

  • Transparency notice awardTransparency noticeUK5Transparency notice on Find a Tender