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Project Corvus - Army Land Tactical Deep Find

Defence Equipment and Support

This public procurement record has 6 releases in its history.

Tender

31 Jul 2025 at 16:16

UK4 - Tender Notice
Planning

17 Jul 2025 at 16:01

UK3 - Planned Procurement Notice
Planning

27 May 2025 at 13:36

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
PlanningUpdate

22 May 2025 at 14:36

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Planning

22 May 2025 at 13:39

UK1 - Pipeline Notice
Planning

15 Apr 2025 at 14:44

UK2 - Preliminary Market Engagement Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The public procurement process for "Project Corvus - Army Land Tactical Deep Find" is currently in the tender stage, spearheaded by Defence Equipment and Support, a central government public authority based in Bristol, UK. This project involves the procurement of an Uncrewed Air System to support the Army's 24-hour persistent surveillance requirement under the defence and security regime. The procurement method adopted is a selective competitive flexible procedure, which started with a tender notice on 31st July 2025. Key deadlines include the submission of a Procurement Specific Questionnaire by 29th August 2025, followed by the final submissions by 31st March 2026. The contract, valued at approximately £130,000,000 net, is expected to commence on 1st May 2026, running through to 30th April 2031, with provisions for extensions.

This tender offers substantial business growth opportunities, primarily for businesses skilled in unmanned aerial vehicles and related defence technology sectors. Firms providing innovative, technologically advanced, and adaptable solutions stand to benefit, particularly if they can address the army’s tactical and operational mobility needs effectively. The project is poised for those capable of providing a reliable and easily deployable system that can evolve with future strategic requirements. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), along with voluntary and community sector enterprises (VCSEs), are also considered suitable for this opportunity, given the focus on competitiveness and flexibility. The procedure includes various stages, offering significant room for engagement and potential collaboration for a diverse range of suppliers ready to meet stringent defence specifications.

How relevant is this notice?

Notice Information

Notice Title

Project Corvus - Army Land Tactical Deep Find

Notice Description

Project Corvus - Procurement of an Uncrewed Air System capabiity to support the Army Land Tactical Deep Find 24-hr Persistent Surveillance Requirement

Lot Information

Lot 1

Options: Additional equipment and/or additional years' support; procurement and/or capability enhancement through spiral development

Renewal: Extension of support arrangements for a further period

Planning Information

Project Corvus Clarification Questions (CQs) Procurement Act 2023 Issue 001 In the interests of transparency, please find below a list of fifteen (15) clarification questions relating to Project Corvus and, where known, answers to these questions. Further notices will be published in due course on the ‘Find a Tender Service’ and ‘DSP.’ The current anticipated timeline for full ITT to be published is by Quarter 3 (three) Tax Year 2025/26. All KURs are being reviewed and final requirements will be shared within the Tender documents. The Authority envisage that the single Contract will be let to an Original Equipment Manufacturer / Prime Contractor who will be required to provide the equipment and support to meet the Army's requirements. The solution must be of a high readiness level, be technologically agile, and capable of undergoing spiral development in future years to meet continuously evolving requirements. Interested parties are encouraged to be working towards Cyber Essentials + accreditation prior to the launch of the full Tender. Defence Equipment and Support are the Contracting Authority, and the information contained within this notice is subject to contract and subject to change at the Authority's sole discretion. Question 1: Is there an upper weight limit or anything that caps the size of the platform being offered? Answer 1: We are not specifying an upper size limit; however, survivability and tactical mobility are key considerations that will be balanced against the size of any platform. Question 2: We would like to raise a CQ to ask if it is permissible to share content relating to the CORVUS requirements with a third party subcontractor, who is non UK based? Answer 2: All information available on ‘Find a Tender Service’ is able to be shared. However, during future phases of the procurement, information classifications may change. Handling instructions for higher classifications of information will be shared as appropriate in advance utilising a Security Aspects Letter (SAL) and guidance as appropriate. Question 3: How are you planning to procure the security assurance required to validate that the UAS' you procure are suitable from a security perspective and do in fact meet your requirements? We noted that you expected the procured UAS' to be secure by design. Will the supplier need to provide evidence of this, or do you require independent third party assurance that this is the case? If the latter, what route to market will you use to procure those professional services? Answer 3: We would expect the supplier to have done this testing, providing appropriate evidence for Requirement Acceptance. Where additional assurance is required (for example in support of the Air System Safety Case or the Secure by Design requirement) independent assurance may be needed. This will be secured via the DE&S Single Front Door to determine whether the service is provided by Expert Services or a Delivery Partner. Question 4: Will there be a new Industry Engagement event? Answer 4: We are unable to provide any additional details at this time. All future notices will be published on ‘Find a Tender Service’ and within ‘DSP’. Question 5: Please can you confirm if this opportunity is being procured through the HMT Framework, or if it is open to all suppliers? Answer 5: The project will be run under the Procurement Act 2023 regime and is therefore open to all suppliers. All future notices will be published on ‘Find a Tender Service’ and within ‘DSP’. Question 6: Please can you confirm whether the intent is to require the embodiment of an approved Detect and Avoid capability? Answer 6: There is no threshold requirement for detect and avoid, but a detect and avoid system will be considered as part of the Air System Safety Case as part of the Layered Safety approach. Question 7: KUR 2. Sense (ISTAR and Targeting). What NIIRS levels and accuracies of detection ranges and geolocation are required for DRI? This is likely to determine the size of payload and thus the type/size of the AV. Is COMINT/ELINT required? Answer 7: Following feedback from Industry, KUR performance guidance is being reviewed. Updated KUR details will be published later in the year. Question 8: KUR 4. Survivability. What is the definition of a denied environment? Is it from take-off to landing or only over the target area? What is the definition of “Contested airspace”? What is defined as GNSS denial – GPS denial or Spoofing? What is the level of interference on EMS? Answer 8: Following feedback from Industry, KUR performance guidance is being reviewed. Updated KUR details will be published later in the year. Question 9: KUR 5. Deploy and Sustain Operations. Can the definition of “Specific environments” be clearly defined in terms of meteorological and environmental. Answer 9: Following feedback from Industry, KUR performance guidance is being reviewed. Updated KUR details will be published later in the year. Question 10: KUR 8. Capability Development. What is the MOD’s Spiral Development priorities? What are the update cycles envisaged? Answer 10: Following feedback from Industry, KUR performance guidance is being reviewed. Updated KUR details will be published later in the year. Question 11: KUR 9. Policy Compliance. Clarification requested on standards to be applied. KUR 9 clearly states MAA, but the RFI also refers to “... the Authority believes that there will need to be CAA/MAA/EASA or equivalent approvals...”. Answer 11: An approval (e.g. CAA. MAA, EASA) will be required for any demonstrations held as part of the tender process. Full MAA approval will be required for the selected system before entry into service and will be achieved as part of the project delivery. Question 12: We recently became aware of Project CORVUS, however, by the time we did the RFI deadline had passed Answer 12: The RFI is not a pre-requisite to engaging in future phases of the procurement. Please keep watch for future notices and publications which will be made within ‘DSP’ and ‘Find a Tender service’. Question 13: As part of the system solution is the requirement to supply all the vehicles to support the 2 x TL’s, i.e. REME vehicles/ G4 logs vehicles or will these be current in-service vehicles such as LR, EPLS or MAN SV trucks? Answer 13: The transport solution is for the CORVUS specific element only (i.e. GCS and Air Vehicles). 47 Regt RA will maintain their current Basic User Fleet (BUF) for the transportation of personnel and non-CORVUS specific equipment. Question 14: We would like to understand if the training requirement is mainly focused on the flying crews, L&R and maintainers, or will Op’s staff also form part of the requirement? Answer 14: The minimum training requirement will be for the conversion of flying crews, launch and recovery (L&R) personnel and maintainers only. However, if there are any specific communications systems or software that will be used by the Signallers or Operations staff then training should be provided for that as well. It is also recognised that wider training will be required for the full delivery of the Land Tactical Deep Find capability that may be delivered by CORVUS. This will be informed by a full Training Needs Analysis that will be conducted to support the delivery of the project. Question 15: If a full new vehicle type / fleet for the system and support elements is required, does driving and maintainer training on the new vehicle variant also form part of the requirement? Answer 15: Depending on the vehicle type, driver training / familiarisation and maintainer training would be required, unless it is already available through the military (e.g. driving licence training / examination would not be required if the vehicle requires a C licence). - End -

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-05034c
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/044898-2025
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
SME, VCSE
Awardee Scale
Not specified

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

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

CPV Codes

35613000 - Unmanned aerial vehicles

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
£130,000,000 £100M-£1B
Lots Value
£130,000,000 £100M-£1B
Awards Value
Not specified
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
31 Jul 20251 years ago
Submission Deadline
18 Aug 2025Expired
Future Notice Date
31 Oct 2025Expired
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
1 May 2026 - 30 Apr 2031 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

Tender Status
Active
Lots Status
Active
Awards Status
Not Specified
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

Further Information

Notice Documents

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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