Find a TenderPlanned procurementPreliminary market engagement notice
Published 25 Aug 2026, 08:57 BST

Official UK procurement notice

UK1 - Provision of a Successor Avionic Systems Trainer (SAvST)

Authority: Ministry of Defence (Central government)

ServicesCompetitive flexible procedureAbove thresholdSME suitable
Sectors: Software Packages & ERP (48) Delivery: UK
Planned pipeline value£2,480,000pipeline notice, not a live tender
Tender notice expected 18 Jan 2027from the planned procurement notice
Contract term 3 yrsends 31 Mar 2030 · up to 31 Mar 2032 with extensions · starts 1 Apr 2027

What is being bought

Published requirement description

The MOD are seeking the provision and installation of a classroom-based Avionics Systems Trainer (AST) for three (3) sites at RAF Cosford, HMS Sultan, and MOD Lyneham, to deliver Avionics training within the Defence School of Aeronautical Engineering (DSAE) which is an essential component of whole force Avionics technician training.

The information in this Notice is purely for information, and no further details are available at this stage. Please do not contact the contracting authority regarding this notice. Further details will be provided in a future tender notice if the opportunity progresses.

CPV: Development of software for military applications · Training and simulation in aircrafts, missiles and spacecrafts · Training and simulation in military electronic systems · Training software package

The lotProcurement structure

single lot · no lot value published
Lot #1PlannedRenewal 3 yrsSME

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

How Ministry of Defence buys Training and entertainment software package (CPV 4893), and who usually turns up

Ministry of Defence’s published record next to the market for the same work. Frameworks and DPS are left out: they draw different bid counts. Whole-market view: Training and entertainment software package (CPV 4893) →

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 48
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: 12 of 27 known-size awards · market: CPV 4893 · UK-wide, n=10
44%40%

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.

Local means the winner is registered in the region where that award was delivered.

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

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 5 of 8 known-location awards · market: division 48 · UK-wide, n=2,054
63%28%

Most of this buyer’s recorded winners were registered in the region where that award was delivered. More of this buyer’s work stays local than in this market: 63% against 28%, n=8.

How long to a decision?
i

How long buyers here take to decide after bids close.

Middle value in days from the bid deadline to the award date, on competitions that published both.

Only decided tenders count, so slow ones still waiting are not in.

Last 36 months.

Buyer: 3 decided notices · market: division 48 · UK-wide, n=243
11 days62 days

Half of these awards have an award date within 11 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 29 of 40 procurements with awards had no recorded rival · market: CPV 4893 · UK-wide, n=14
73%57%

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 buyer10 lots with bid counts · broad CPV 48
60% had one bid
The market379 lots with bid counts · division 48 · UK-wide
15% had one bid
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
1 bid60% / 15%
Buyer: 6 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 58 of 379 lots with published bid counts.
2–320% / 31%
Buyer: 2 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 118 of 379 lots with published bid counts.
4–620% / 32%
Buyer: 2 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 120 of 379 lots with published bid counts.
7+0% / 22%
Buyer: 0 of 10 lots with published bid counts. Market: 83 of 379 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 buyer91 lots with estimate and award · all categories
60% below estimate
The market230 lots with estimate and award · division 48 · UK-wide
55% below estimate
Buyer / market · select a colour for counts
Below estimate60% / 55%
Buyer: 55 of 91 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 126 of 230 lots with an estimate and award.
Within ±2%22% / 25%
Buyer: 20 of 91 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 57 of 230 lots with an estimate and award.
Above estimate18% / 20%
Buyer: 16 of 91 lots with an estimate and award. Market: 47 of 230 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 489336 monthsSME suitablePublished estimate£2.5m
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 379 past lots.

A forecast, not a list of bidders.

—No model forecast yet15% chance of a single bid
Past bids on 379 similar lots
1 bid15%
58 of 379 similar past lots received 1 bid (15%).
2–331%
118 of 379 similar past lots received 2–3 (31%).
4–632%
120 of 379 similar past lots received 4–6 (32%).
7+22%
83 of 379 similar past lots received 7+ (22%).
Comparable past lots usually drew 4 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 £2.5m, 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
Procedure method
Competitive flexible procedure
Legal basis
UKPGA · 2023/54 Procurement Act 2023
Procurement category
Services
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
25 Aug 2026, 08:57 BST
Last source update
8 Oct 2026, 12:16 BST
Authority reference
715864494
FTS notice number
2026/S 000-095155
Latest notice
Preliminary market engagement notice (UK2)
Classification (CPV)
Development of software for military applicationsTraining and simulation in aircrafts, missiles and spacecraftsTraining and simulation in military electronic systemsTraining software package
Delivery area
UK
Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-06eb15 Find a Tender

How it was run

Official notice
Submission deadline
—

Timeline

25 Aug 2026 → 1 Apr 2027 · 5 dates
  1. Planning notice published61 days ago
    25 Aug 2026, 08:57 BST
  2. Latest notice published17 days ago
    8 Oct 2026, 12:16 BST
  3. Today
    25 Oct 2026
  4. Market engagementin 11 days
    5 Nov 2026, 23:59 GMT

    The Authority asks that any participant in the market engagement completes the questionnaire in the Request for Information (RFI) document found on the Opportunity Listing within the Defence Sourcing Portal and returns a copy to the email address below:

    [email protected]

    The closing date for the market engagement will be 14:00 on the 5th November 2026.

  5. Tender notice expectedin 85 days
    18 Jan 2027, 23:59 GMT
  6. Contract startsin 157 days
    1 Apr 2027, 00:00 BST

Notice history

2 events · 2 releases on Find a Tender · since 25 Aug 2026
  1. Pipeline notice published
    25 Aug 2026, 08:57 BST
    UK1
  2. Preliminary market engagement notice published
    8 Oct 2026, 12:16 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 Flowerdown Hall, RAF Cosford, Wolverhampton, West Midlands, WV7 3EXContact name, email

Official documents & specifications (2)

Official links; attachments are not copied

Notices published for this procedure