---
title: "Troposcatter Propagation Tool"
ocid: "ocds-b5fd17-a6357ab6-8cce-4250-9c46-b3532362f77d"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-a6357ab6-8cce-4250-9c46-b3532362f77d"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-a6357ab6-8cce-4250-9c46-b3532362f77d.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-a6357ab6-8cce-4250-9c46-b3532362f77d.json"
source: "Contracts Finder"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DEFENCE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY"
published: "2021-09-17"
---

# Troposcatter Propagation Tool

Buyer: DEFENCE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-b5fd17-a6357ab6-8cce-4250-9c46-b3532362f77d

[View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-b5fd17-a6357ab6-8cce-4250-9c46-b3532362f77d)  
[Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-a6357ab6-8cce-4250-9c46-b3532362f77d.json)

## Summary

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory is seeking to award a contract titled "Troposcatter Propagation Tool" as part of its ongoing procurement in the research and development services sector, specifically focused on security and defence materials. This procurement is currently at the award stage, with an active contract value of £159,841.87, and the awarded contract runs from 14th October 2021 to 7th March 2022. The tender was published on 17th September 2021, with the tender period concluding on the same date and the work expected to be delivered in the South East region of the United Kingdom.

This procurement presents a significant opportunity for businesses specialising in advanced communications technologies, particularly those that can develop and utilise novel propagation tools for tropospheric scatter systems. Companies with expertise in data fusion methods and real-time data analytics would be well-suited to compete, as the project requires innovative solutions that can accurately predict performance and enhance operational efficiency in communication systems. This tender caters to suppliers capable of addressing the technological needs identified by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory in their quest to enhance long-range communication capabilities.

## Notice

The emerging threat to SATCOM (through natural and hostile means) has resulted in a need to understand and exploit other long range Beyond Line Of Sight (BLOS) propagation options such as tropospheric scatter. While technological issues such as the large size, weight and power (SWaP) profile have been overcome in recent years, the lack of accurate propagation tools for deployment planning and operations have not. Modern troposcatter systems tend to operate in C Band (4.4 - 5.0GHz) but variants are available in, S (~2GHz), X (~8GHz) and K (above 12GHz) -bands. These systems can potentially offer high bandwidths in excess of 100Mbps over geodesic distances in excess of 160km dependent upon climatic conditions. The propagation mechanism for troposcatter systems depends on the operational scenario. Short range Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) paths may rely on atmospheric ducting, diffraction, or refraction, whilst long range Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) paths will be dominated by troposcatter i.e. scattering from refractive-index in-homogeneities. Whilst the Troposcatter systems have benefitted from technological advances, the tropospheric propagation prediction tools have not developed to the same extent and most tools still use long term atmospheric data. In order to fully utilise troposcatter communications, therefore, it is imperative that deployed systems are supported by accurate propagation tools for mission planning and operations. New propagation tools to support troposcatter systems must use novel data fusion methods and exploit real-time data to provide useful now-casts and forecasts information. In particular, they must correctly predict the performance of modern troposcatter modems in terms of quality of service and available bandwidth to ensure operational efficiency. Importantly, for any propagation planning or analysis tools to work accurately, they must not only just consider troposcatter but incorporate other propagation modes such as; ducting and diffraction as well as the impact of terrain and ideally rain and sand side-scatter to provide a complete solutions.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Contracts Finder |
| Latest notice | https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/55157fb9-df39-4799-9008-e6892dc9f5fa |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Framework |
| Procurement category | Goods |
| Procurement method | Selective |
| Procurement method details | Call-off from a framework agreement |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 17 Sep 2021 |
| Submission deadline | 17 Sep 2021 |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 13 Sep 2021 |
| Contract period | 13 Oct 2021 - 7 Mar 2022 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | £159,841 |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £159,841 |
| 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 | DEFENCE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY LABORATORY |
| Locality | SALISBURY |
| Post town | Salisbury |
| Postcode | SP4 0JQ |
| Country | England |
| ITL 1 | TLK South West (England) |
| ITL 2 | TLK7 Gloucestershire and Wiltshire |
| ITL 3 | TLK72 Wiltshire |
| Local authority | Wiltshire |
| Electoral ward | Winterslow & Upper Bourne Valley |
| Westminster constituency | Salisbury |
| Delivery location | TLJ South East (England) |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | QINETIQ |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 73 - Research and development services and related consultancy services

### Codes

- 73400000 - Research and Development services on security and defence materials

## Release History

- 17 Sep 2021 at 13:39 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/55157fb9-df39-4799-9008-e6892dc9f5fa

## Documents

- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/55157fb9-df39-4799-9008-e6892dc9f5fa
  17th September 2021 - Awarded contract notice on Contracts Finder
- https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/Attachment/f3028183-3b9a-4c84-a4d6-750e71e8ac68

## 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-a6357ab6-8cce-4250-9c46-b3532362f77d. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-b5fd17-a6357ab6-8cce-4250-9c46-b3532362f77d.json.