--- title: "713289450-Procurement of Drill Rounds and Gauges" ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-04b6e8" canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04b6e8" markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04b6e8.md" json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04b6e8.json" source: "Find A Tender Service" current_stage: "Award" buyer: "MINISTRY OF DEFENCE" published: "2025-05-15" --- # 713289450-Procurement of Drill Rounds and Gauges Buyer: MINISTRY OF DEFENCE Current stage: Award OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-04b6e8 [View canonical contract page](https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-04b6e8) [Download OCDS JSON](https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04b6e8.json) ## Summary The Ministry of Defence, through its Defence Equipment & Support Land Equipment team, has awarded a contract under DSPCR 2011 to Lockheed Martin Ampthill United Kingdom Ltd for the procurement of 2700 Drill Rounds & Gauges. This contract is part of a selective procurement process negotiated with publication of a contract notice, focusing on goods within the category of weapons, ammunition, and associated parts. The contract, valued at £8,973,924 and signed on 17th April 2025, will see delivery to regions within the UK over a period of approximately three years. The procurement was conducted via a negotiated procedure without prior publication, based on technical reasoning that aligns with UK government procurement regulations. This procurement represents a significant opportunity for businesses involved in the defence sector, particularly those capable of supplying military-grade equipment and materials. The necessity for bespoke, technically compliant Drill Rounds tailored specifically to the Ajax vehicle's operational needs illustrates a demand for high precision engineering and advanced manufacturing capabilities. Companies with experience in UK defence contracts, especially those familiar with military specifications and quality standards, stand to benefit from similar tenders. This agreement underscores the robust market for suppliers capable of meeting the stringent technical and operational requirements necessary for defence equipment and associated projects. Such projects are crucial for maintaining operational readiness and can be instrumental in establishing or enhancing a supplier's reputation within the defence sector. ## Notice The Defence Equipment & Support Land Equipment team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (the Authority), awarded a contract via Negotiated Procedure without Prior Publication of a Contract Notice under DSPCR 2011, to Lockheed Martin Ampthill United Kingdom Ltd for the purchase of 2700 Drill Rounds & Gauges. ### Lot Information Lot 1 Procurement of Drill Rounds for the Ajax Programme ### Procurement Information The Defence Equipment & Support Land Equipment Ajax Portfolio Team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (the Authority), intends to award a single source contract for a total of 3 years to Lockheed Martin United Kingdom (LMUK) for the purchase of 2700Drill Rounds for Ajax Vehicles & Training Systems. In accordance with regulation 4 of The Defence and Security Public Contracts (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (SI 2019/697) this procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 as amended (in particular by SI 2019/697 and SI 2020/1450). Prior publication of a contract notice in the Official Journal of the European Union is no longer appropriate. It is considered that the award of the contract without prior publication of a contract notice in the UK e-notification service (as required by the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the DSPCR 2011 for Technical Reasons. This is for the following reasons. LMUK have previously provided Drill Rounds to the Authority's Ajax Programme. The current LMUK Drill Rounds have been designed, tested and qualified to work in line with the required Ajax specification. Previous testing on alternative Drill Rounds has been conducted and various options have been deemed non-compliant to the Ajax specification. There are no other Drill Rounds available from alternative suppliers in the market that meet the Authority's requirements and are qualified for use. The requirement for Drill Rounds is on the Ajax Critical Path and is essential to the programme. Now that additional Ajax vehicles and Training Systems are in service the need for compliant Drill Rounds is critical. To adhere to requirements set out by the Authority's Future Soldier Integrated Review, Drill Rounds must be procured to ensure Ajax Vehicles & Training Systems are supported to maintain the schedule. The current LMUK Drill Rounds will allow the Authority to maintain the current specification reducing technical and operational risk, risk to the programme timeline and damage to equipment. It would also prevent additional delays and impacts on essential Ajax training requirements. Delays have already caused significant impacts to the Ajax programme historically. To design, test and qualify a new Drill Round now, even if this was possible, will introduce further delays to the Ajax programme which will not be tolerable. Consequently, even if an alternative supplier had the technical capability to produce a Drill Round suitable for use with the Ajax Vehicles & Training Systems and then have it successfully qualified for use, this would cause unacceptable and disproportionate time and cost impacts on the Ajax programme. ## Key Details | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication source | Find A Tender Service | | Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/021933-2025 | | Notice type | Award Notice | | Procurement type | Standard | | Procurement category | Goods | | Procurement method | Selective | | Procurement method details | Negotiated with publication of a contract notice | | Tender suitability | Not specified | | Awardee scale | Large | | All stages | Award | ## Dates | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Publication date | 15 May 2025 | | Submission deadline | Not specified | | Future notice date | Not specified | | Award date | 15 Nov 2024 | | Contract period | Not specified | | Recurrence | Not specified | ## Values | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender value | Not specified | | Lots value | Not specified | | Awards value | Not specified | | Contracts value | £12,973,924 | ## Status | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | Tender status | Complete | | Lots status | Not specified | | 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 | 2 | | Supplier names | LMUK; LOCKHEED MARTIN AMPTHILL | ## CPV Codes ### Divisions - 35 - Security, fire-fighting, police and defence equipment ### Codes - 35300000 - Weapons, ammunition and associated parts ## Release History - 15 May 2025 at 15:46 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/021933-2025 - 15 Nov 2024 at 14:15 - Award - Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/037041-2024 ## Notice URLs - https://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-04b6e8. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-04b6e8.json.