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

Defence Equipment and Support

This public procurement record has 2 releases in its history.

Award

05 Aug 2026 at 14:04

UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Award

24 Jul 2026 at 12:26

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

Defence Equipment and Support is procuring an uncrewed air system capability for the Army’s Land Tactical Deep Find requirement, under Project CORVUS. The system is intended to replace Watchkeeper and provide persistent surveillance for land operations. The initial capability comprises two task lines, each able to deliver 24-hour persistent surveillance. The requirement includes support for the capability and options to increase the number of task lines and extend support. This is a defence and security goods procurement covering unmanned aerial vehicles. The buying organisation is Defence Equipment and Support, based at MOD Abbey Wood in Bristol. The requirement is associated with the Army’s operational surveillance capability and involves the provision, support and potential expansion of an uncrewed air system rather than a standalone equipment purchase.

The procurement is complete and Tekever Ltd has been awarded the contract for the single lot. The award date was 24 July 2026, with an awarded value of £220,000,000 excluding VAT, or £264,000,000 including VAT. The contract period is 31 August 2026 to 31 August 2031, with a maximum extent date of 31 August 2036. The award includes renewal and contractual options for additional task lines and a further five years of support. The process began as a competitive flexible procedure, but moved to a direct award under section 43 of the Procurement Act 2023 after eight submitted tenders were judged unsuitable. Tekever passed the tender board and completeness, affordability and pass/fail ability-to-deliver checks, and submitted detailed technical evidence. The award was above the relevant threshold.

This procurement indicates substantial, sustained demand for an integrated uncrewed air system supporting military surveillance. A credible future competitor would need to provide unmanned aerial vehicles capable of delivering two simultaneous 24-hour persistent-surveillance task lines, together with dependable operational support. Relevant strengths would include system integration, long-duration unmanned aviation, surveillance mission delivery, resilience in land-operational settings and the capacity to support a defence capability over several years. Suppliers would also need to demonstrate affordability, satisfy mandatory pass/fail requirements, and provide detailed evidence for technical responses. The evaluation outcome shows that proven ability to deliver the required task line, supported by complete and persuasive technical evidence, was central to selection. Defence and security compliance, suitable governance arrangements and the capacity to scale equipment and support would also be important when competing for a comparable requirement.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

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

Notice Description

Project Corvus - Procurement of an Uncrewed Air System Capability to support the Army Land Tactical Deep Find 24-hr Persistent Surveillance Requirement. On 31st July 2025 Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), now National Armaments Director Group, published a UK 4 Tender Notice (Notice Identifier: 2025/S 000-044898) on the Find a Tender Service (FTS) Platform to inform the market that it intended to run a procurement for Project CORVUS under the competitive flexible procedure of the Procurement Act 2023. The Authority subsequently issued the Project Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) and invited 18 Bidders to respond to an Invitation to Tender (ITT). By the ITT closing date (13th February 2026) 8 Bidders had submitted a response to the ITT, however none of these responses were suitable. The Authority is now following the process as set out in Section 43 the Procurement Act of 2023. Section 43 of the Procurement Act 2023 permits a contracting authority, in certain circumstances, to switch from a competitive tendering procedure to a direct award. The Authority has considered the statutory conditions for reliance on section 43 and has concluded that they are satisfied in this case. In particular, the Authority considers that no suitable tender was received under the Procurement, as none of the tenders received satisfied the Authority's mandatory requirements when assessed by reference to the stated assessment methodology. The Authority has also concluded that a further competitive tendering procedure would not be possible in the circumstances, for operational reasons. The Authority therefore considers that a direct award under section 43 is justified and compliant with the Procurement Act 2023. As a result, and following the process in section 43(5), the Authority intends to award the Contract to Tekever Ltd as the only bidder in the Procurement to pass Stage 1 (Tender Board and Completeness Check), Stage 2 (Affordability Check), and Stage 3 (PASS/FAIL Tender Criteria) Question PF02 (Ability to Deliver Task Line 1) and also to submit detailed evidence supporting all of its technical responses. Tekever Ltd are not an "Excludable" or "Excluded" supplier in accordance with the Act. The estimated date the contract will be signed (subject to approvals) is 31 August 2026, however this may be subject to change The standstill period begins upon the publication of this notice (5 August 2026) and ends 8 working days later on 14 August 2026 @ 23.59 GMT. Any changes to this will be communicated by issuing a correction/amendment notice.

Procurement Information

Previous Notices references: 2025/S 000-024998 (UK1 Notice) 2025/S 000-027744 (UK2 Notice) 2025/S 000-041060 (UK3 Notice) 2025/S 000-044898 (UK4 Notice) Description: On 31st July 2025 Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), now National Armaments Director Group, published a UK 4 Tender Notice (Notice Identifier: 2025/S 000-044898) on the Find a Tender Service (FTS) Platform to inform the market that it intended to run a procurement for Project CORVUS under the competitive flexible procedure of the Procurement Act 2023. The Authority subsequently issued the Project Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) and invited 18 Bidders to respond to an Invitation to Tender (ITT). By the ITT closing date (13th February 2026) 8 Bidders had submitted a response to the ITT, however none of these responses were suitable. The Authority is therefore following the process as set out in the Procurement Act of 2023, Section 43. Section 43 of the Procurement Act 2023 permits a contracting authority, in certain circumstances, to switch from a competitive tendering procedure to a direct award. The Authority has considered the statutory conditions for reliance on section 43 and has concluded that they are satisfied in this case. In particular, the Authority considers that no suitable tender was received under the Procurement, as none of the tenders received satisfied the Authority's mandatory requirements when assessed by reference to the stated assessment methodology. The Authority has also concluded that a further competitive tendering procedure would not be possible in the circumstances, for operational reasons. The Authority therefore considers that a direct award under section 43 is justified and compliant with the Procurement Act 2023. As a result, and following the process in section 43(5), the Authority intends to award the Contract to Tekever Ltd as the only bidder in the Procurement to pass Stage 1 (Tender Board and Completeness Check), Stage 2 (Affordability Check), and Stage 3 (PASS/FAIL Tender Criteria) Question PF02 (Ability to Deliver Task Line 1) and also to submit detailed evidence supporting all of its technical responses. Tekever Ltd are not an "Excludable" or "Excluded" supplier in accordance with the Act. The Authority's current intentions are subject to the following conditions: i) That the terms of the CORVUS Contract are agreed with Tekever Ltd and not significantly altered from the terms that were circulated with the advertised competitive flexible procedure; ii) The Ministry of Defence's governance and approvals processes being met; iii) The Authority reserve the right to abandon or terminate the direct award process at any stage prior to contract award. If the Authority does not proceed to award, it will publish a Procurement Termination Notice pursuant to section 55 of the Procurement Act 2023. iv) If the Authority does intend to proceed to award, the Authority will publish a UK6: Contract Award Notice (CAN) prior to signing the CORVUS contract in order to instigate the formal standstill period. This notice is for transparency purposes and does not constitute a formal standstill period being initiated. However, by way of summary: The Army are seeking to replace the Watchkeeper system with a new Uncrewed Air System (UAS) to deliver the Land Tactical Deep Find (LTDF) 24hr persistent surveillance requirement; under the title Project CORVUS. Project CORVUS is a CAT B procurement that was launched in order to procure a new UAS to meet the Army's LTDF requirement. The Customer initially requires 2 x Task Lines, each able to provide 24 hours of persistent surveillance. The CORVUS capability will require to be supported for 5 years from Minimum Deployable Capability. There will be Contractual Options included to increase the number of Task Lines and extended years of support should the capability prove its cost effectiveness. The estimated Contract Value below is based on the Value of the 5-Year Core Contract (PS136,370,354), plus the additional Options for equipment and extensions to the Contract. These are as per the advertised maximum thresholds in the DEFFORM 47 and subsequent clarification documents. The estimated date the contract will be signed (subject to approvals): 31 August 2026, however this may be subject to change.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-06d322
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/074233-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK6 - Contract Award Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Goods
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
Not specified
Awardee Scale
Large

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
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£220,000,000 £100M-£1B
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
5 Aug 20262 months ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
24 Jul 20262 months ago
Contract Period
31 Aug 2026 - 31 Aug 2031 Over 5 years
Recurrence
Not specified

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
1
Supplier Name

TEKEVER LTD

Further Information

Notice Documents

Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS)

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