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UK5 NOTICE - DDAITF/011 Project CARRION Mission Software and Integration Services

Ministry of Defence

This public procurement record has 1 release in its history.

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12 Oct 2026 at 10:56

UK5 - Transparency Notice
Summary of the contracting process

The Ministry of Defence is buying software development and integration services for Project CARRION, to mature autonomous swarm mission capabilities across different types of uncrewed system. The work covers mission autonomy, swarm coordination, mission planning and control software, simulation and test environments, platform integration, software licences, compute modules, engineering, testing, technical support and assurance. The aim is to validate a sovereign, open-architecture capability that can support later development and operational use. Delivery is in the United Kingdom. The scope excludes air vehicles, effectors, sensors, communications equipment, launch and recovery infrastructure, range and safety services, and airworthiness or certification work. It also excludes production, fleet-wide deployment and long-term support. This is a specialist defence software and systems-integration requirement, rather than a purchase of uncrewed vehicles or their wider equipment.

The procurement is complete and has resulted in a direct award to Applied Intuition UK Ltd. The award is recorded as pending; a contract signature was scheduled for 27 October 2026. The contract period runs from 27 October 2026 to 31 March 2028. The awarded price is £4,977,790 excluding VAT (£5,973,348 including VAT). There is one lot, covering the software and integration development requirement. The Ministry used a direct award because Applied Intuition is the existing supplier of proprietary products, interfaces, simulation models and assurance materials from Project LOW; changing supplier was judged likely to cause incompatibility and disproportionate technical difficulty, cost, risk and delay. The work is also a prototype and development phase, evaluated around testing military suitability, assessing scalability and further research and development.

For suppliers preparing for comparable future work with the Ministry of Defence, this award shows demand for specialist mission-autonomy software and integration across heterogeneous uncrewed systems. Credible competitors would need to demonstrate capability in swarm coordination, mission planning and control, simulation, software and hardware integration, testing, safety assurance and technical support in a defence context. Experience integrating with an established technical baseline and producing reliable interfaces, simulation models and assurance evidence would be particularly relevant. The buyer’s stated objective is a sovereign, open-architecture capability that supports interoperability and future competition, so suppliers should be able to show how their approach avoids dependence on a single proprietary environment. The work is a limited prototype and development activity, not a production deployment or enduring support contract; suppliers focused only on vehicle manufacture, sensors, communications or certification would not match this requirement.

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Notice Information

Notice Title

UK5 NOTICE - DDAITF/011 Project CARRION Mission Software and Integration Services

Notice Description

Project CARRION will procure software products and integration services from Applied Intuition to develop and mature autonomous swarm mission capabilities across heterogeneous uncrewed systems, building on the test and evaluation undertaken through Project LOW, which was competivily tendered through Dstl. The contract will include mission autonomy, swarm coordination, mission planning and control software, simulation and test environments, platform integration and related technical support. It excludes air vehicles, effectors, sensors, communications equipment, launch and recovery infrastructure, range and safety services, and airworthiness or certification activities. The intended outcome is a validated, MOD-sovereign, open-architecture capability that supports future competition and further development towards operational use.

Procurement Information

The contract will extend mission-autonomy capability created under Project LOW following Dstl's competitive procurement. It will further develop, integrate, test and assure the existing technical baseline as a prototype capability for heterogeneous uncrewed systems. Direct award to Applied Intuition is justified because it is the existing supplier of the proprietary products, interfaces, simulation models and assurance artefacts that form the Project LOW baseline. Changing supplier at this stage would result in an incompatible solution and require integration, testing, training and assurance activity to be recreated, causing disproportionate technical difficulty, cost, risk and delay. Applied Intuition's continued involvement is therefore necessary to complete this limited development phase and support the required testing at NATO Exercise STEADFAST DEFENDER 2027 in February 2027. The requirement also concerns novel goods and services being developed at MOD's request to test suitability for military use, assess potential scalability and undertake further research and development. The award is confined to the software, integration, testing, technical support and assurance needed for this prototype and development phase; it does not cover production, fleet-wide deployment or enduring support. Evidence generated will inform MOD's future requirements and procurement strategy, supporting interoperability, MOD ownership and future competition while avoiding technological or commercial lock-in. Applicable direct award grounds: Schedule 5, paragraph 7 - Additional or repeat goods, services or works Applied Intuition is the existing supplier of the Project LOW mission-autonomy baseline, including its proprietary Axion and Acuity products, compute modules, swarm behaviours, interfaces, simulation models and assurance artefacts. Project CARRION is an extension to, and partial replacement of, those existing goods and services. Changing supplier would result in MOD receiving a different and incompatible autonomy and mission-control environment. It would require interfaces to be redesigned, integration and simulation work to be recreated, testing and user training to be repeated, and safety, assurance and configuration evidence to be rebuilt. This would cause disproportionate technical difficulties in operation and maintenance, materially increasing cost, risk and delay. The conditions in Schedule 5, paragraph 7 are therefore met: the requirement is an extension to, or partial replacement of, existing goods and services supplied by Applied Intuition; a change of supplier would produce an incompatible solution; and that incompatibility would create disproportionate technical difficulties. Direct award to the existing supplier is necessary to complete the limited development phase without duplicating work or creating unacceptable technical, safety and schedule risk. Any production, fleet-wide deployment or enduring support requirement will be subject to a separate commercial assessment and procurement strategy. Schedule 5, paragraph 2 - Prototypes and development The conditions in Schedule 5, paragraphs 2 and 3 are met. The contract concerns novel goods and services designed and developed at MOD's request to produce a prototype mission-autonomy capability for heterogeneous uncrewed systems; it is not the routine purchase of a mature, production-ready solution. The work is for the statutory purposes in paragraph 2: to test the capability's suitability for military use through simulation, software-in-the-loop, hardware-in-the-loop and live trials; to assess the viability of developing and supplying it at scale; and to undertake further research, experiment and development of swarm behaviours, platform interfaces, mission control, safety and assurance. Further development and validation are necessary because integration, regulatory and technical dependencies remain unresolved. The capability is therefore experimental and requires evidence to determine its suitability, scalability and route towards operational use. The scope is limited to the software licences, compute modules, engineering, integration, testing, technical support and assurance necessary for this prototype and development phase. It excludes production, fleet-wide deployment, enduring support, air vehicles and wider enabling equipment, infrastructure and certification activities. The contract therefore falls within Schedule 5, paragraph 2 because it concerns a prototype and novel goods and services supplied for testing, scale-viability assessment and further research and development. Any subsequent production, deployment or enduring support requirement will be subject to a separate commercial assessment and procurement route.

Notice Details

Publication & Lifecycle

Open Contracting ID
ocds-h6vhtk-078564
Publication Source
Find A Tender Service
Latest Notice
https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/095965-2026
Current Stage
Award
All Stages
Award

Procurement Classification

Notice Type
UK5 - Transparency Notice
Procurement Type
Standard
Procurement Category
Services
Procurement Method
Direct
Procurement Method Details
Direct award
Tender Suitability
SME
Awardee Scale
SME

Common Procurement Vocabulary (CPV)

CPV Divisions

72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

CPV Codes

72231000 - Development of software for military applications

Notice Value(s)

Tender Value
Not specified
Lots Value
Not specified
Awards Value
£4,977,790 £1M-£10M
Contracts Value
Not specified

Notice Dates

Publication Date
12 Oct 20261 weeks ago
Submission Deadline
Not specified
Future Notice Date
Not specified
Award Date
Not specified
Contract Period
27 Oct 2026 - 31 Mar 2028 1-2 years
Recurrence
Not specified

Notice Status

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

Buyer & Supplier

Contracting Authority (Buyer)

Main Buyer
Ministry of Defence
Contact Name
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Email
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →
Contact Phone
Available with D3 Tenders Premium →

Buyer Location

Locality
LONDON
Postcode
SW1A 2HB
Postcode Area
South West London
Country
England
Major Region (ITL 1)
TLI London
Basic Region (ITL 2)
TLI3 Inner London - West
Small Region (ITL 3)
TLI35 Westminster and City of London
Delivery Location
Not specified
Local Authority
Westminster
Electoral Ward
St James's
Westminster Constituency
Cities of London and Westminster

Supplier Information

Number of Suppliers
1
Supplier Name

APPLIED INTUITION UK LTD

Further Information

Notice Documents

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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