---
title: "CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE - HEAVY LIFT CHALLENGE"
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-48d773a7-8ca1-4445-8fd8-31854f946ae2"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-48d773a7-8ca1-4445-8fd8-31854f946ae2"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-48d773a7-8ca1-4445-8fd8-31854f946ae2.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-48d773a7-8ca1-4445-8fd8-31854f946ae2.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "MINISTRY OF DEFENCE"
published: "2021-10-28"
---

# CONTRACT AWARD NOTICE - HEAVY LIFT CHALLENGE

Buyer: MINISTRY OF DEFENCE  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-48d773a7-8ca1-4445-8fd8-31854f946ae2

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## Summary

The Ministry of Defence has recently completed the procurement process for the "Heavy Lift Challenge" Framework, aimed at enhancing the development of autonomous Heavy Lift Uncrewed Air Systems in the maritime domain. This open tender, which falls under the research and development services category, concluded its tender period on 26th July 2021, with the contract starting on 30th September 2021 and set to run until 29th September 2025. The framework aims to improve the number of delivery-ready platforms available and facilitate the rapid development of capabilities for the Royal Navy and other sectors, with potential delivery addresses spanning the UK and beyond.

This opportunity enables suppliers, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the technology and defence sectors, to leverage cutting-edge projects and enhance their business prospects. Companies that can provide innovative uncrewed air systems and demonstrate their development and commercialisation plans would find themselves well-positioned to compete in this tender. By participating, businesses can contribute to advancements in defence technology while also accessing support for their products’ accelerated market entry.

## Notice

Contract Award Notice for the Heavy Lift Challenge The Heavy Lift Challenge (HLC) Framework (the Framework) has been created by the Authority in order to accelerate the development of a range of autonomous Heavy Lift Uncrewed Air Systems for use predominantly, but not exclusively, in the maritime domain. The intention is to address the lack of current options in the market by increasing the number of delivery ready platforms in order to help support and develop the Authority's understanding of the potential capabilities and uses for of such autonomous systems. The Authority will facilitate accelerated development of a number of Supplier Uncrewed Air Systems (UAS) to meet or exceed the requirements of an Authority defined Minimum Viable Product. Our intent is to ensure that Defence will have access at the speed of relevance to current and future emerging cutting-edge capabilities for use within the Royal Navy and other domains. The Authority will facilitate, via the use of this competitive framework, an environment whereby suppliers are able to demonstrate current capabilities, set out product development and commercial exploitation roadmaps and work with both the Authority and potentially with other suppliers to accelerate pace of development and reduce time to market. The purpose of the HLC Framework is therefore to support and inform the development of Maritime operating concepts and enable assessment, analysis, exploration and evaluation of the use of un-crewed air systems (UAS) for beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) payload delivery. The Framework is designed specifically to: i) provide Sponsor / User confidence in the potential for UAS systems to provide recoverable, adaptable, remotely piloted air systems, capable of accurately delivering heavy payloads at range; ii) enable the Authority to identify and as appropriate fund the most viable solutions in the market for accelerated further development in order to meet the Authority's minimum requirement (the Minimum Viable Product or "MVP") within the times stated, iii) provide the Authority with a mechanism for end users to potentially acquire for further evaluation or other use those solutions which demonstrably meet or exceed the MVP.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0bdb242f-f7ce-4107-9485-c860741a550c |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Open |
| Procurement method details | Open procedure (above threshold) |
| Tender suitability | SME |
| Awardee scale | SME |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 28 Oct 2021 |
| Submission deadline | 26 Jul 2021 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 29 Sep 2021 |
| Contract period | 29 Sep 2021 - 29 Sep 2025 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Not specified |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | MINISTRY OF DEFENCE |
| Locality | BRISTOL |
| Post town | Bristol |
| Postcode | BS34 8JH |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLK South West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLK5 West of England |
| ITL 3 | TLK52 Bath & North East Somerset and South Gloucestershire |
| Local authority | South Gloucestershire |
| Electoral ward | Stoke Park & Cheswick |
| Westminster constituency | Filton and Bradley Stoke |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 2 |
| Supplier names | MALLOY AERONAUTICS; W AUTONOMOUS SYSTEMS |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

### Codes

- 73000000 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

## Release History

- 28 Oct 2021 at 10:47 - AwardUpdate - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0bdb242f-f7ce-4107-9485-c860741a550c
- 21 Oct 2021 at 14:38 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0bdb242f-f7ce-4107-9485-c860741a550c

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/0bdb242f-f7ce-4107-9485-c860741a550c
  28th October 2021 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder

## Provenance

This Markdown file is an alternate public rendering of the D3 Tenders contract record. The canonical page is https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-48d773a7-8ca1-4445-8fd8-31854f946ae2. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-48d773a7-8ca1-4445-8fd8-31854f946ae2.json.