Official UK procurement notice
Vented Aviation Moulded Protection (VAMP) earpiece
Authority: Defence Equipment and Support (Central government)
What is being bought
Published requirement descriptionThe Air Crew Equipment Delivery Team within Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), part of the UK Ministry of Defence, (“the Authority”) intends to award a Contract ACCOMM/00032 for the provision of In Ear Communication Devices (IECD) to Marlborough Communications Ltd (MCL) for a period of three (3) years. The contract is for the Supply of Vented Aviation Moulded Protection Earpiece for use with Aircrew Protective Helmets. The Authority requires additional supplies and service of the Vented Aviation Vented Aviation Moulded Protection (VAMP) earpiece.
It is considered that the award of the contract 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)(b)(i)(aa) of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 for technical reasons.
CPV: Communications equipment
The lotProcurement structure
single lot · no lot value publishedLot #1The contract is for the Supply of Vented Aviation Moulded Protection Earpiece for use…
The contract is for the Supply of Vented Aviation Moulded Protection Earpiece for use with Aircrew Protective Helmets. The Authority requires additional supplies and service of the Vented Aviation Vented Aviation Moulded Protection (VAMP) earpiece.
MCL is a sole distributor and is exclusively responsible for all distribution and support of the Advanced Communication Solutions Ltd (ACL) products and services to the UK MOD. ACL are the approved Design Organisation (DO) for the articles and own the Design Rights for the articles which fulfil the requirement and integrate with Aircrew communication across multiple Aircrew Systems. ACL hold the necessary Design Approved Organisation Scheme accreditation to meet Airworthiness requirements with Military Aviation Authority (MAA) regulations ensuring continued support of this equipment to the required safely levels. Using different IECD from another OEM would result in goods with different technical characteristics and therefore incompatibility with those supplied by MCL in use across multiple Aircrew Systems.
What it takes to wini
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
Evaluation split and conditions of participation as published; the tender pack may add morei
How this buyer will score bids.
The evaluation criteria and weights exactly as published on the notice, grouped by family (price, quality, social value and so on).
- Lowest price
Procedure terms & legal framework
From the official record- 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
- Goods
- 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
- 26 Feb 2026, 15:58 GMT
- Last source update
- 26 Feb 2026, 15:58 GMT
- Authority reference
VTN-ACCOMM/00032- FTS notice number
2026/S 000-017530- Classification (CPV)
- Delivery area
- Official registry OCID
ocds-h6vhtk-065d70Find a Tender
- Why no open competition
No tenders or no suitable tenders/requests to participate in response to negotiated procedure with prior publication of a contract notice; The works, supplies or services can be provided only by a particular economic operator due to absence of competition for technical reasons; Additional deliveries by the original supplier ordered under the strict conditions stated in the directive
- Published justification
The contract is for the Supply of Vented Aviation Moulded Protection Earpiece for use with Aircrew Protective Helmets. The Authority requires additional supplies and service of the Vented Aviation Vented Aviation Moulded Protection (VAMP) earpiece.
MCL is a sole distributor and is exclusively responsible for all distribution and support of the Advanced Communication Solutions Ltd (ACL) products and services to the UK MOD. ACL are the approved Design Organisation (DO) for the articles and own the Design Rights for the articles which fulfil the requirement and integrate with Aircrew communication across multiple Aircrew Systems. ACL hold the necessary Design Approved Organisation Scheme accreditation to meet Airworthiness requirements with Military Aviation Authority (MAA) regulations ensuring continued support of this equipment to the required safely levels. Using different IECD from another OEM would result in goods with different technical characteristics and therefore incompatibility with those supplied by MCL in use across multiple Aircrew Systems.
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 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)(b)(i)(aa) of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 for technical reasons.
ACL hold the necessary Design Approved Organisation Scheme accreditation to meet Airworthiness requirements with Military Aviation Authority (MAA) regulations ensuring continued support of this equipment to the required safely levels, ACL will not directly contract with the Authority and will only distribute goods via MCL.
Commercial outcome & contract awards
Published awards, contracts and bid statistics, not a forecast| Awarded to | Value | Date | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Marlborough Communications ltdSubcontracting: declared | £3,209,827 † | — | Awarded |
Contracts
Contract 017530-2026-1 · Marlborough Communications ltd
- Signed
- 24 Mar 2025
- Value
- £3,209,827
- Status
- active
Contracting authority & participating public bodies
Dispute resolution & review bodies
- Ministry of DefenceReview body
Bidders & participating suppliers
1 commercial party on the notice- Marlborough Communications LtdAwarded supplier
Official documents & specifications
Official links; attachments are not copiedNo document links were published on the notice.