Tender

710264450_SERPENS Close Find Radar_Tender Notice

DEFENCE EQUIPMENT AND SUPPORT

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Tender

22 Apr 2025 at 14:57

Planning

12 Mar 2025 at 11:42

Summary of the contracting process

Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), a division of the Ministry of Defence, has issued a tender notice for the procurement of twenty-five Close Find Radars under Project SERPENS. This project aims to develop a digitally integrated weapon locating system for use as counterbattery assets, integrated with land vehicles and communications networks. The contract, valued at £94,000,000, is currently in the tender stage, with a selective procurement method and a flexible procedure outlined. Businesses must submit expressions of interest by 22 May 2025, with the end of the enquiry period scheduled for 21 May. Delivery completion is anticipated in 2027, and the core contract term will cover equipment delivery and four years of in-service support, potentially extendable to ten years.

The tender presents significant opportunities for companies operating in the radar technology and defence sectors, especially those capable of integrating advanced electronic systems into military vehicles. With a focus on high technological readiness, businesses with expertise in radar systems development and integration, electronic communications systems, and military vehicle applications will be positioned well to compete. There is also potential for further business growth through options to add additional systems for counter rocket, artillery, and mortar roles, as well as for unmanned aerial surveillance. Companies must meet technical and economic criteria, including ISO 9001:2015 certification, and prepare to provide innovative solutions that can be adapted to complex system integration requirements.

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Notice Title

710264450_SERPENS Close Find Radar_Tender Notice

Notice Description

Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), as the procurement arm of the Ministry of Defence (MoD), is engaged in procurement activity for Project SERPENS, a digitally integrated weapon locating system, to be employed as counterbattery assets comprising artillery weapon locating sensors and radars which will be installed onto in-service land vehicles and integrated with communications bearer networks. The planned out-of-service date (OSD) for the SERPENS system is 2057. SERPENS plans to procure a quantity of twenty-five (25) Close Find Radars using a competitive flexible procedure (s.20) under a staged delivery schedule to complete during calendar year 2027. Focus is on high technological readiness with priority on key requirements following which development will focus on the mounting of radar assets onto vehicles, integration with inservice comms bearer/s and, in future, integration into SERPENS as a networked array of sensors. The planned core term for this contracting opportunity will be six (6) years, estimating equipment deliveries within no more than two (2) years followed by four (4) years of in-service support. Options are planned to be implemented to extend the in-service support beyond the core six-year term as a de-risking measure based on the complexity of system integration requirements for the SERPENS system. SERPENS reserves the right to procure additional CFR systems during the performance period of any resultant contract, for the purposes of counter rocket, artillery and mortar (C-RAM), or counter unmanned aerial surveillance (C-UAS), or any other air defence or surveillance roles. The in-service support provisions of any contract awarded may be extended to provide the same, or similar, support services towards any additional systems procured under the performance of the contract. For the avoidance of doubt, a permitted modification/direct award may be made in the event that additional goods and/or services are to be procured for the same or similar use cases by the Armed Forces. Should any company be interested in expressing interest for this contracting opportunity, and you have not previously engaged with the SERPENS team, please contact the associated buyer who will be able to provide registration details for the SERPENS AWARD portal.

Lot Information

Lot 1

Options: Options are to be exercised to extend the in-service support beyond the core six-year term as a de-risking measure based on the complexity of system integration requirements for the SERPENS system. The means of pricing the additional option years will be governed by the provisions set out in the Contract Terms and Conditions

Renewal: The Contract will be extendable through the Authority exercising the rights afforded under the Contract Terms and Conditions to take up additional option years of in-service support.

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-04ec06
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/016313-2025
Current Stage
Tender
All Stages
Planning, Tender

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK4 - Tender Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Goods
Procurement Method
Selective
Procurement Method Details
Competitive flexible procedure
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

35 - Security, fire-fighting, police and defence equipment


CPV Codes

35722000 - Radar

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£94,000,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
£94,000,000 £10M-£100M
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
22 Apr 202510 months ago
Submission Deadline
21 May 2025Expired
Future Notice Date
22 Apr 2025Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
15 Jun 2026 - 15 Jun 2032 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Active
Lots Status
Active
Awards Status
Not Specified
Contracts Status
Not Specified

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
DEFENCE EQUIPMENT AND SUPPORT
Contact Name
Not specified
Contact Email
defcomrcl-systemsguidance@mod.gov.uk
Contact Phone
Not specified

Buyer Location

Locality
BRISTOL
Postcode
BS34 8JH
Post Town
Bristol
Country
England

Major Region (ITL 1)
TLK South West (England)
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLK5 West of England
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLK52 Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire
Delivery Location
Not specified

Local Authority
South Gloucestershire
Electoral Ward
Stoke Park & Cheswick
Westminster Constituency
Filton and Bradley Stoke

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

View full OCDS Record for this contracting process

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The Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) is a framework designed to increase transparency and access to public procurement data in the public sector. It is widely used by governments and organisations worldwide to report on procurement processes and contracts.

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        "riskDetails": "There is a risk that during the course of the tendering period that the Live Firing Data Gathering Event activity, which is part of the assessment criteria and confidence score of Criteria 2.05 - Performance Accuracy is unable to go ahead due to circumstances unforeseen to the Authority. In the event that this risk materialises the Authority reserves the right to amend the Award Criteria linked to this event under Section 24 of the Procurement Act 2023. For all of the below stated known risks the Authority is providing this information in the event that a permitted modification in accordance with the Procurement Act 2023 is required in the future. This modification would be exercised in accordance with Schedule 8, Paragraph (5) of the Procurement Act 2023 - Materialisation of a Known Risk. Under Contract there is a risk that the system may require modification to hardware and/or software to enable integration with FC BISA, or an equivalent messaging system, and any associated hardware to realise the full SERPENS capability. It is not possible to mitigate the risk prior to the launch of the procurement as the system we are procuring is subject to the outcome of the competition and the extent of any hardware or software modification cannot be appropriately scoped. Under Contract there is a risk that the system may require modification to hardware to enable integration and/or installation onto a Foxhound vehicle to realise the full SERPENS capability. It is not possible to mitigate the risk prior to the launch of the procurement as the system we are procuring is subject to the outcome of the competition and the extent of any hardware modification cannot be fully de-risked until the CFR technical solution is known."
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