Defence Online

Type of document: Contract Notice
Country: United Kingdom

MOD Prior Information Notice

GB-Bristol: SHIPACQ182

1. Contract Title
Contract Title: GB-Bristol: SHIPACQ182

2. Contracting Authority:
Ministry of Defence, Ships, Other
Ships Acquisition, Ash 0c, MOD Abbeywood, Bristol, BS34 8JH, United Kingdom
Tel. 01173146044, Email: DESShipsComrcl-T31e@mod.gov.uk

3. Contract:
Contracting Authority’s file Reference number: SHIPACQ182
Type of Contract: SUPPLIES
Estimated value of requirement: Category A: 400M GBP and above
Short description of the contract: As announced in the National Shipbuilding Strategy (“NSbS”) the Ministry of Defence (“MOD”) is seeking to procure five (5) new General Purpose Frigates for the Royal Navy (“RN”) for a total cost not to exceed £1.25 billion inclusive of Government Furnished Equipment (GFE). These General Purpose Frigates have been denoted the Type 31e (T31e).
The T31e will provide an enduring and continuous worldwide maritime security presence in forward operating areas and releasing other, more complex warships to their primary roles.
The T31e will carry out maritime security and interdiction tasks, such as security patrols, escort duties, counter drugs and counter piracy. It will also carry out defence engagement activities, such as port visits and official entertainment, demonstrations of military capability and participation in allied training exercises. It must be ready to respond to emergent events, such as natural disasters or evacuation of non-combatants and will routinely carry specialist emergency relief stores in certain operating areas.
The T31e design will need to be adaptable, providing evolution paths for future capability insertion to enable growth of the destroyer and frigate numbers into the 2030s, and to address export customers’ needs.
The Authority previously commenced a competition for this requirement in February 2018 with the publication of Contract Notice reference TKR-2018222-DCB-11953582. Subsequently the Authority elected to stop this procurement due to inadequate competition prior to awarding Competitive Design Phase (CDP) contracts.
The purpose of this Prior Information Notice (PIN) is to invite potential suppliers to a short period of early market engagement prior to the commencement of a new competition for the T31e requirement (“the New Procurement”). The New Procurement is planned to consist of:
1. A Pre-Qualification Questionnaire;
2. CDP Contracts for the supply of specific design deliverables during the Design & Build (D&B) competition; and
3. A single D&B Contract to build five T31e frigates for the Royal Navy.
Suppliers who are interested in participating in the early market engagement ahead of the New Procurement should write to the Authority at DESShipsComrcl-T31e@mod.gov.uk to confirm your interest and to request a market engagement session. With your response, you must send:
a) details of your lead consortium’s/company’s name and details of your consortium members; and
b) two point of contact details (including names, phone numbers, email addresses and postal addresses).
The deadline for expressions to participate is Monday 20 August 2018. Any expression of interest received after this time may be rejected at the Authority’s sole discretion.
Type 31e requirement
The Authority’s high level requirement for Type 31e, in accordance with the NSbS, is for:
• five (5) Type 31e ships with a target of the first ship entering into service in 2023 and the fifth ship entering into service in 2028;
• a cost to the Authority (inclusive of GFE) of £1.25BN;
• an open and adaptable whole ship and combat system design;
• a UK focused Design and Build strategy which maximises UK prosperity and is built in a UK shipyard; and
• a ship design with export potential to the global market.
Suppliers should only respond if they are (themselves or as part of a consortium with other suppliers) in a position to undertake the full Type 31e programme, meeting its full requirement including a £1.25bn cost and building the T31e in a UK shipyard.

Early Market Engagement
The Authority intends to commence a period of market engagement activity from 20 August 2018 with Suppliers who are interested in tendering for the T31e D&B contract and delivering the whole ship programme.
The purpose of the market engagement is for the Authority to share key elements of the New Procurement, including technical and commercial elements. The Authority intends to use the feedback from the market engagement to inform the further shaping of its requirements and commercial construct.
T31e competition.
Following a short period of early market engagement, the Authority anticipates launching the New Procurement with a Contract Notice and a PQQ. PQQ responses will be used to select suitable Suppliers to tender for a CDP Contract. Those Suppliers who are selected will be invited to tender for the D&B Contract by responding to a D&B Invitation to Negotiate (ITN). The D&B Contract will be awarded to the Supplier with the most economically advantageous tender response as evaluated against the Authority’s published evaluation criteria in the D&B ITN.

General & Data Room

The New Procurement will be exempt from the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (the “DSPCR”) pursuant to Article 346 TFEU and therefore no rights, duties, obligations or liabilities arising from the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 and/or the EU Treaties will apply. By expressing an interest to participate in the early market engagement, you acknowledge that none of the obligations, rights and remedies deriving from the DSPCR and/or the EU Treaties apply to the New Procurement.

The Authority may, at its sole discretion:
• in any way amend and/or cancel the early market engagement or subsequent procurement process;
• withdraw this PIN at any time for any reason;
• decide not to award any contract to any bidder following the CDP and/or D&B phases.

The Authority does not bind itself to enter into any contract(s) arising out of the proceedings envisaged by this PIN and no contractual rights express or implied arise out of this notice or the procedures envisaged by it.

The Authority is using the AWARD™ software tool during this project. AWARD™ will be used to:
• provide access to documents shared by the Authority;
• allow Suppliers to raise and respond to requests and clarifications;
• provide a portal for formal submission of responses; and
• support the Authority in their assessment of the responses.
AWARD™ is an internet based system and contains on-line guidance. AWARD™ will be used to manage distribution of documentation, and collection of any response material. To access the system a user will need to state that they have read the AWARD™ terms and conditions of use and confirm that the user accepts them. Access to the documents is restricted and will only be provided through AWARD™ to those companies who express an interest as set out in this Prior Information Notice and subsequently provide acknowledgement of a Security Aspects Letter (SAL) to be issued by the Authority.
CPV codes:
34500000 – Ships and boats.

35511200 – Destroyers and frigates.

35510000 – Warships.

73424000 – Development of warships.

Additional Information: Suppliers interested in working with the Ministry of Defence should register on the MOD Supplier Information Database (SID) Register, available at www.contracts.mod.uk. The MOD SID is a database of active and potential suppliers available to all MOD and UK Defence procurement personnel, and is the main supplier database of MOD Procurement organisations. Please note: the registration and publication of a company profile on the MOD SID does not mean or imply that the supplier has in any way been vetted or approved by the MOD. Suppliers wishing to compete for advertised MOD contracts must respond to any specific call for competition by submitting a separate expression of interest in accordance with the instructions of the purchasing organisation.

The Authority reserves the right to amend any condition related to security of information to reflect any changes in national law or government policy. If any contract documents are accompanied by instructions on safeguarding classified information (e.g. a Security Aspects Letter), the Authority reserves the right to amend the terms of these instructions to reflect any changes in national law or government policy, whether in respect of the applicable protective marking scheme, specific protective markings given, the aspects to which any protective marking applies, or otherwise.

Advertising Regime DCB:- These contract opportunities are published in the MoD Defence Contracts Bulletin.