---
title: "Support to Mission Planning Environment (MPE) Trials"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-03fc1e"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-03fc1e"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03fc1e.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03fc1e.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "LIGHTNING DELIVERY TEAM"
published: "2023-09-12"
---

# Support to Mission Planning Environment (MPE) Trials

Buyer: LIGHTNING DELIVERY TEAM  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-03fc1e

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## Summary

The Lightning Delivery Team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence, has recently completed the award stage of a procurement process for "Support to Mission Planning Environment (MPE) Trials" in the services category, specifically software support services. The contract has been awarded to BAE Systems (Operations) Ltd – Air, with a contract value of £2,545,000, signed on 7th September 2023. The procurement method used was the award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition. This tender aimed to provide support for MPE software integration through software trials and developing reports to ensure safety assurance under the Lightning Programme.

This procurement process created an opportunity for businesses involved in software support services to compete for providing support to Mission Planning Environment trials. Businesses with expertise in software trials, integration support, and software development may find this tender suitable for their capabilities. The Lightning Delivery Team, as the buyer, selected BAE Systems based on their accreditation from Lockheed Martin and the US Government, which enabled them to meet the security requirements for the software. The contract aims to ensure the safety assurance of the MPE software developed under the Lightning Programme, with a focus on providing evidence for safety case approvals.

## Notice

Software trials and integration support

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Software trials and integration support

Options: Options for extended duration and for additional Work Packages

### Procurement Information

The Lightning Delivery Team (LDT), part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a contract to BAE Systems (Operations) Limited ('BAES') to provide support to Mission Planning Environment (MPE) software integration. This will involve the running of software trials and developing reports to provide the Authority with evidence to support its safety assurance on the MPE software developed under the Lightning Programme. This evidence then forms the basis of the Authority's safety case approvals. It is considered that this requirement can be placed using the Negotiated Procedure without prior publication of a contract notice pursuant to Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the UK Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011. The Lightning Programme Prime Contractor, Lockheed Martin, will only share in-depth software details with BAES due to their position within the Programme. BAES possesses accreditation from LM and the US Government which enables them to access the software in accordance with security requirements. To conduct the level of safety assurance the Authority requires an independent organisation needs to have in-depth access to the software. No independent contractor other BAES would have such access. Significant additional risk would be carried in the operation of the Lightning without the level of assurance in the software that is provided by BAES. BAES have a representative test environment in which this software can be integrated with Lightning hardware and software to provide further assurance on the new MPE software.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/026975-2023 |
| Notice type | Award Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Limited |
| Procurement method details | Award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 12 Sep 2023 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 6 Sep 2023 |
| Contract period | Not specified |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | Not specified |
| Contracts value | £2,545,000 |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Cancelled |
| Awards status | Active |
| Contracts status | Active |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | LIGHTNING DELIVERY TEAM |
| 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 | TLK11 Bristol, City of |

## Supplier

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Number of suppliers | 1 |
| Supplier names | BAE SYSTEMS (OPERATIONS) LTD – AIR |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

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

### Codes

- 72261000 - Software support services

## Release History

- 12 Sep 2023 at 14:12 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/026975-2023

## Notice URLs

- http://www.contracts.mod.uk

## 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-h6vhtk-03fc1e. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-03fc1e.json.