---
title: "https://des.mod.uk/"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0401e6"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0401e6"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0401e6.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0401e6.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "MINISTRY OF DEFENCE"
published: "2024-04-02"
---

# https://des.mod.uk/

Buyer: MINISTRY OF DEFENCE  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0401e6

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## Summary

The Ministry of Defence has issued a procurement opportunity for the update of the Laser Inertial Navigation Artillery Pointing System (LINAPS). This procurement falls under the "goods" category with the main procurement method being a limited award procedure without prior publication of a call for competition. The contracting authority is located in Bristol, UK. Key details of this procurement opportunity include the title "Update of the APS," the industry category of "Towed artillery," and the current procurement stage being the award process with a contract signed on 6th September 2023 worth GBP 15,000,000.

This tender provides a significant opportunity for businesses with technical expertise in gun-mounted navigation and weapon management systems, particularly suppliers well-versed in the maintenance and upgrade of artillery pointing systems. Given the specialised nature of the contracting requirements and the emphasis on proprietary diagnostic software, businesses with a track record in integrating and maintaining similar systems, like Leonardo UK Ltd, are best positioned to compete effectively in this procurement process. The Ministry of Defence, as the buying organisation, aims to enhance the operational effectiveness of its Light Gun system through this contract, creating a strategic growth avenue for suppliers capable of addressing the specific technical challenges outlined in the tender.

## Notice

Update of the APS

### Lot Information

Lot 1

Updating of the obsolesce for the APS for the LG L118

### Procurement Information

The LINAPS is a self-contained gun mounted navigation, pointing and weapon management system. It is integral to the performance and operational effectiveness of the Light Gun. Both physical and software components of the APS have suffered from obsolescence issues since it entered service in 1999. The APS is reliant on the additional information fed directly to it by the MVR. As the OEM for the APS, Leonardo is the only supplier with the technical expertise in relation to the system and the bespoke diagnostic software required to perform the equipment support services. The detailed work undertaken to maintain the APS is broken down into the component parts and addressed below: 1. The INU internal GPS, gyro and operating boards must be upgraded. As component parts of the wider INU system, Leonardo, the OEM, hold the technical configuration information and expertise for the internal repair and upgrade of the system. This is sub-assembly repair, and therefore the OEM is the only provider able to upgrade the system without causing wider system failure. 2. The LDCU requires a hardware and software upgrade to run windows 10 for security accreditation and to resolve major issues to functionality. The upgraded LDCU must be compatible with the Laser Inertial Navigation Artillery Pointing System (LINAPS), a bespoke diagnostic software. This is a product created by Leonardo and is the critical integration piece to ensure the APS and Light Gun remain operational. Leonardo has a proven track record of completing these upgrades for the light gun in use by New Zealand and Canada. All the above sit within the APS, and therefore must be integrated with each other to maintain functionality of the system. As the OEM, Leonardo possesses the specific integration technical knowledge to conduct this work. 3. Though a separate piece of equipment, the MVR works directly with the APS Subsystems to provide data to the user. If MVR is not integrated with the wider APS, Light Gun will have significant loss of operational capability. The MVR is integral to the proper function of the APS. The MVR feeds information directly into the APS and is therefore equally reliant on the same integration with the LINAPS software as the sub-components of the APS to meet operational capability. There remains a very high technical risk to lack of integration of the MVR with LINAPS as the diagnostic system is bespoke and is owned and operated by Leonardo as the OEM. Should the MVR not be integrated correctly then the Light Gun can not meet full operational capability. This has a direct impact on the user should the gun be required on future operations. It is considered that this contract can be placed using the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice pursuant to Article 28(1)(e) of Directive 2009/81/EC (Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the UK Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011) for technical reasons. This is because LMW is the designer and Original Equipment Manufacturer of the APS and the only supplier with the technical expertise in relation to the system and the bespoke diagnostic software required to perform the equipment support services.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/010563-2024 |
| Notice type | Tender Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Goods |
| 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 | Tender, Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 2 Apr 2024 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 5 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 | £15,000,000 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | MINISTRY OF DEFENCE |
| Locality | BRISTOL |
| Post town | Not specified |
| Postcode | N/A |
| Country | Not specified |
| ITL 1 | Not specified |
| ITL 2 | Not specified |
| ITL 3 | Not specified |
| Local authority | Not specified |
| Electoral ward | Not specified |
| Westminster constituency | Not specified |
| Delivery location | Not specified |

## Supplier

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

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 35 - Security, fire-fighting, police and defence equipment

### Codes

- 35322300 - Towed artillery

## Release History

- 2 Apr 2024 at 12:07 - TenderUpdate - Tender Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/010563-2024
- 19 Sep 2023 at 10:27 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/027601-2023

## Notice URLs

- https://des.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-0401e6. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0401e6.json.