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Diving Life Support (DLS) In-Service Support (ISS)

Defence Equipment and Support

This public procurement record has 7 releases in its history.

AwardUpdate

10 Aug 2026 at 16:39

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

10 Aug 2026 at 16:05

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
TenderUpdate

16 Oct 2025 at 12:40

UK4 - Tender Notice
TenderUpdate

22 Sep 2025 at 12:26

UK4 - Tender Notice
Tender

22 Sep 2025 at 10:02

UK4 - Tender Notice
PlanningUpdate

24 Mar 2025 at 09:41

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Planning

17 Mar 2025 at 10:37

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Defence Equipment and Support is procuring in-service support for the UK Military’s Diving Life Support portfolio, used mainly by the Royal Navy for underwater explosive ordnance disposal, underwater engineering, search and related Defence tasks. The requirement covers equipment supply, repair and maintenance across four areas: diver’s dress and dive ancillaries; diving support equipment such as communications, gas booster pumps, air compressors, oxygen monitors and recompression chambers; dive sets and dived equipment including lift bags, breathing apparatus and underwater hydraulic tools; and self-contained air diving and clearance diver life-support equipment. The work covers the United Kingdom. This is specialist diving equipment and life-support support rather than general clothing, engineering or maintenance services.

The procurement has been awarded following an open competitive flexible procedure. On 10 August 2026, Lot 1 was awarded to Northern Diver (International) Limited for £14,510,000 gross (£12,091,667 excluding VAT), and Lots 2, 3 and 4 were awarded to JFD Limited for £27,180,000 gross (£22,650,000 excluding VAT), £19,266,000 gross (£16,055,000 excluding VAT), and £16,307,000 gross (£13,589,167 excluding VAT), respectively. Each award has a contract period from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2031, with two separately exercisable one-year extensions, giving a possible end date of 30 September 2033. The award was evaluated on value for money, with economic and technical selection requirements. The award notice starts a standstill period ending 19 August 2026; signature is scheduled for 1 October 2026.

This procurement indicates sustained UK Defence demand for specialist diving life-support equipment and its through-life support. Credible competitors would need capability in one or more of the four equipment areas: diver clothing and ancillaries; diving support systems including communications, compressors, oxygen monitoring and recompression chambers; dive sets, breathing apparatus, lift bags and underwater hydraulic tools; or self-contained and clearance-diver life-support equipment. Suppliers would need to demonstrate economic standing and the technical ability of their business or nominated supply chain to meet the relevant requirements. The process allowed small and medium-sized enterprises to participate across the lots, while the competition showed that suppliers may need to cover multiple equipment disciplines, work with a supply chain, and deliver UK-wide repair, maintenance and equipment support.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Diving Life Support (DLS) In-Service Support (ISS)

Notice Description

Defence Equipment and Support (DES) Salvage and Marine Operations (SALMO) Delivery Team (DT) have a requirement for the provision of In-Service Support (ISS) to the Diving Life Support (DLS) portfolio of equipment. The DLS portfolio provides a diving capability to the UK Military, led by the Royal Navy, to support a full range of technical and support activities to enable the delivery of underwater Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD), underwater engineering, underwater search and engineering tasks in support of UK Defence Tasks. The DLS ISS requirement is divided into the following four Lots: Lot 1 - Diver's Dress and Dive Ancillaries Includes: Diver's dress, e.g. dive suits, boots, gloves, etc and Dive Ancillaries Lot 2 - Diving Support Equipment Includes: Diver Through Water Communication (DTWC) Gas Boosters Pumps Portable Breathing Air Compressor (PBAC) Portable Oxygen Monitoring Apparatus (POMA) Type B Recompression Chamber (RCC) Lot 3 - Dive Sets and Dived Equipment Includes: Enclosed Mine Lift Bags (EMLB) Swimmers Oxygen Breathing Apparatus (SOBA), including Excursion variant Surface Supplied Diving Equipment (SSDE) Parachute Lift Bags (PLB) Underwater Hydraulic Tools Lot 4 - Self-Contained Air Diving Equipment (SCADE) and Clearance Diver Life Support Equipment (CDLSE) Includes: Self-Contained Air Diving Equipment (SCADE), including Swimmers Air Breathing Apparatus (SABA) and Rechargeable Air Breathing Apparatus (RABA) Clearance Divers Life Support Equipment (CDLSE) The publication of this Contract Award Notice (UK6) shall commence standstill, with the last day of the standstill period being 19th August 2026.

Lot Information

Dive Dress and Dive Ancillaries

Renewal: Five year initial term, with options to extend for a further one or two years in accordance with the terms of the Contract.

Diving Support Equipment

Renewal: Five year initial term, with options to extend for a further one or two years in accordance with the terms of the Contract.

Dive Sets and Dived Equipment

Renewal: Five year initial term, with options to extend for a further one or two years in accordance with the terms of the Contract.

Self-Contained Air Diving Equipment (SCADE) and Clearance Diver Life Support Equipment (CDLSE)

Renewal: Five year initial term, with options to extend for a further one or two years in accordance with the terms of the Contract.

Planning Information

This notice serves to inform Industry of the Authority’s intention to conduct market engagement in the form of holding an industry day for this requirement. A market interest and equipment familiarisation day will be held on 03/04/2025 at the Defence Diving School, Horsea Island, Portsmouth. This will consist of an overview of the requirement and contracting approach, including an indicative procurement timeline; a questionnaire to gain supplier feedback; and a question and answer session. Furthermore, there will also be the ability to view equipment in scope of the requirement, and a question and answer session. Subject matter experts will be available to answer technical questions. Please note, the date stated above may be subject to change. The aim of the day is to: a) determine if there is an established market that can meet the Authority’s requirements and enable a successful competition to be run; b) provide suppliers with an overview of the requirement, e.g. type/volume of equipment that needs to be supported/bought; c) gain suppliers’ opinions on the requirement and proposed contracting approach (e.g. amendments to the four proposed Lots) d) provide suppliers the mechanism to suggest alternative ways of meeting the overarching requirement; and e) provide the opportunity for suppliers to discuss opportunities with one another (e.g. sub-contracting and forming consortia, etc) If you are interested in attending this day, please submit expressions of interest to desshipscomrcl-salmo-multiuser@mod.gov.uk by 12:00 hours on 26/03/2025. More information, including booking onto site, timings and maximum number of attendees will be provided to those who register their interest. The supplier shall bear all costs of their attendance at the industry day. For the avoidance of doubt, this notice is not a call for competition. Any comments, indications of interest, participation, or non-participation by any organisation at this stage will not influence the process, selection and/or award decision for any future possible procurement, nor will it be taken as a supplier’s committed position. Non-participation in the industry day will not exclude you from any possible future competition for this requirement.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-04edac
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/075909-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Planning, Tender, Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Open
Procurement Method Details
Competitive flexible procedure
Tender Suitability
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Large, SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

33 - Medical equipments, pharmaceuticals and personal care products

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

37 - Musical instruments, sport goods, games, toys, handicraft, art materials and accessories

42 - Industrial machinery

43 - Machinery for mining, quarrying, construction equipment

44 - Construction structures and materials; auxiliary products to construction (except electric apparatus)

50 - Repair and maintenance services

CPV Codes

33157500 - Hyperbaric chambers

35113400 - Protective and safety clothing

37412240 - Diving instruments or accessories

37412241 - Breathing apparatus for diving

37412242 - Diving wear

37412260 - Wetsuits

37412270 - Dry suits

42123400 - Air compressors

43328100 - Hydraulic equipment

44611110 - Compressed-air cylinders

50000000 - Repair and maintenance services

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£62,500,000 £10M-£100M
Lots Value
£62,500,000 £10M-£100M
Awards Value
£64,385,834 £10M-£100M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
10 Aug 20262 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
21 Nov 2025Expired
Future Notice Date
30 Jun 2025Expired
Award Date
10 Aug 20262 weeks ago
Contract Period
1 Oct 2026 - 30 Sep 2031 Over 5 years
Recurrence
2030-08-30

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Defence Equipment and Support
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
BRISTOL
Postcode
BS34 8JH
Postcode Area
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

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
2
Supplier Names

JFD Limited

Northern Diver (International) Limited

Further Information

Notice Documents

Notice URLs

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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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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