Official UK procurement notice
UK5 - Transparency Notice
Authority: National Armament Director Group (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionAjax is a group of armoured fighting vehicles which provide the Army with its first fully digitised capabilities. The vehicles were designed and manufactured by General Dynamics United Kingdom Ltd (GDUK Ltd) who are therefore the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) and Design Authority (DA).
Defence Equipment & Support (DES), part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD), is planning to award a five-year plus 9 months (plus two x one-year options) Ajax In-Service Support contract to GDUK Ltd for the In-Service Support, inclusive of an anticipated 6 month mobilisation period.
The contract scope will contain support arrangements designed to ensure the sustained operational readiness and performance of the Ajax family of vehicles. The scope will cover:
- Capability management activities including Fleet optimisation, update management and the provision for upgrade tasking.
- Engineering support including Design Authority Services, Safety and Environment case support, technical documentation maintenance and configuration management.
- Equipment Support including elements of maintenance and repairs, upkeep and post-Update training.
- Logistics Support including elements of spares procurement and Inventory management, disposal and the development of resilient supply chains.
- Policy and Governance including asset management and compliance with legislation and regulations.
The contract value is an indicative value at this point in the procurement procedure. It may increase or decrease at contract award following negotiations and may also be increased at a later date to enable surge for warfighting.
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1Awarded
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
- Defence & security
- Commercial structure
- Stand-alone contract (no framework)
- Competition type
- Direct award (no call for competition)
- GPA / WTO covered
- Unspecified in notice
- Recurring procurement
- Unspecified in notice
- First published
- 14 Nov 2025, 11:22 GMT
- Last source update
- 14 Nov 2025, 11:22 GMT
- Authority reference
UK5 - Transparency Notice Ajax ISS- FTS notice number
2025/S 000-073890- Latest notice
- Transparency notice (UK5)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-05e13eFind a Tender
- Why no open competition
- Single Suppliers Technical Reasons
- Published justification
The In-Service Support Contract is intended to cover a period of mobilisation from 1st July 2027 to 31st of December 2027 and will then provide for Service Delivery from the 1st January 2028 upon the conclusion of the current Service Delivery contract on 31st Dec 2027. This period will then endure for five years and three months until 31st March 2033. There will be a further two optional one-year extension periods.
The contract will be awarded in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 (PA23) and the Procurement Regulations 2024. It is considered that this contract can be awarded by way of a Direct Award to GDUK Ltd in accordance with Section 41 and Schedule 5 – Single Supplier, paragraph 6 of the PA23 due to the unique technical reasons relating to this procurement.
The MoD does not currently have access to the necessary proprietary information or technical documentation for the Ajax platform. Only GDUK Ltd, as OEM and DA, has access to and rights in the necessary Intellectual Property (IP) and technical data which precludes
This approach is necessary to ensure that the MoD can maintain operational capability and safeguard the effective support of the Ajax Platform.
- Risks
n/a
Notice history
2 events · 1 release on Find a Tender · since 14 Nov 2025- Transparency notice published14 Nov 2025, 11:22 GMTUK5
- Contract signature expected1 Jul 2027, 23:59 BSTscheduled
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| General Dynamics Land Systems UKAjax IOS Transition Support Contract1 Jul 2027 – 31 Mar 2033 · up to 31 Mar 2035Extensions: There are two options each of one year to be taken up consecutively | £833,333,333 | — | Standstill |
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- General Dynamics United Kingdom LimitedAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications (1)
Official links; attachments are not copiedNotices published for this procedure
- Transparency notice Transparency notice on Find a Tender