---
title: "713661450 - SAWCS SCU In Service Support"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-0504af"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-0504af"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0504af.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0504af.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "DEFENCE EQUIPMENT AND SUPPORT"
published: "2025-12-02"
---

# 713661450 - SAWCS SCU In Service Support

Buyer: DEFENCE EQUIPMENT AND SUPPORT  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-0504af

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## Summary

The procurement process initiated by the Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), a central government public authority, involves a contract for the In-Service Support of the Submarine Acoustic Warfare Control System (SAWCS) Stores Control Unit (SCU). The contract, valued at £2,438,229.16, spans a period from 5th November 2025 to 31st March 2031. The procurement is categorised under defence and security, with specific repair and maintenance services of military electronic systems in focus. Located in Bristol, UK, the procurement has reached the award stage, with Ultra Maritime UK Limited, the original equipment manufacturer, selected through a direct award method due to the critical technical, safety, and security requirements of the system, preventing changes in supplier.

This tender provides an excellent opportunity for businesses specialising in military electronic systems repair and maintenance, particularly those with expertise in high-integrity software for complex defence projects. While the direct award continues the existing support, companies capable of offering complementary services, such as advanced technology refresh solutions or additional engineering support, have the potential to explore collaboration opportunities with Ultra Maritime UK Limited and DE&S. The business growth potential lies in maintaining technological advancement, ensuring operational safety, and enhancing defence capabilities, all crucial for the Royal Navy’s strategic operations.

## Notice

The Secretary of State for Defence (the Authority), through the Sonar and Maritime Sensors (SaMS) Project Team within Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S), intends to place a 5.5-year contract, with Ultra Maritime UK (UMUK) for the In-Service Support of the Submarine Acoustic Warfare Control System (SAWCS) Stores Control Unit (SCU). SAWCS is a bespoke Inboard countermeasure control system developed exclusively for Royal Navy (RN) submarines. It is used with Submarine Counter-measure Acoustic Device (SCAD) 101/102 providing defence to RN submarines from hostile torpedoes by providing a torpedo decoy capability. Support will be provided to the RN submarines fitted with SAWCS to maintain availability of the units, including spares maintenance, engineering support and obsolescence management.

### Procurement Information

It is considered that the direct award of the contract is lawful pursuant to Section 41 and paragraph 7 of Schedule 5 of the Procurement Act 2023 for additional or repeat goods, works and services. The proposed In-Service Support is a continuation of the existing support provided by UMUK under the current contract. The SCU is a safety-critical piece of equipment that relies on high integrity software to operate. A change in supplier would result in the Authority receiving services that are different from, or incompatible with, the existing services, and the difference or incompatibility would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation or maintenance. In particular: 1. UMUK are the original equipment manufacturer who have the experience and technical expertise to maintain the equipment. A new supplier would need a disproportionate amount of time to build the detailed technical understanding of the intricacies of the SCU and interfaces in order to maintain the safe operation of the equipment from the outset of the contract and throughout its duration, ensuring no gap in operational capability. 2. If the hardware, interfaces or processing architecture change as a result of the Authority receiving a different service, and this in any way impacts on the current software build, the costs of embodying that change would be highly cost-prohibitive and take a disproportionate amount of time to regain safety qualification. Without this qualification the system would not be deemed 'Safe to Operate' and would have to be withdrawn from service. These factors increase the risk that a change of provider would result in difference or incompatibility which would bring about disproportionate technical difficulties in operation or maintenance. For these reasons it is not considered that another provider could meet the required level of support without introducing an unacceptable level of technical, safety and security risk to MOD capability.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/078869-2025 |
| Notice type | UK7 - Contract Details Notice |
| Procurement type | Standard |
| Procurement category | Services |
| Procurement method | Direct |
| Procurement method details | Direct award |
| Tender suitability | Not specified |
| Awardee scale | Large |
| All stages | Award |

## Dates

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication date | 2 Dec 2025 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 17 Apr 2025 |
| Contract period | 5 Nov 2025 - 31 Mar 2031 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £2,712,309 |
| Contracts value | £2,438,229 |

## Status

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

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | DEFENCE EQUIPMENT AND SUPPORT |
| 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 | 1 |
| Supplier names | ULTRA MARITIME |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 50 - Repair and maintenance services

### Codes

- 50660000 - Repair and maintenance services of military electronic systems

## Release History

- 2 Dec 2025 at 12:21 - Award - UK7 - Contract Details Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/078869-2025
- 15 Oct 2025 at 12:06 - Award - UK6 - Contract Award Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/065575-2025
- 17 Apr 2025 at 10:39 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/015844-2025

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/078869-2025
  2nd December 2025 - Contract details notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/065575-2025
  15th October 2025 - Contract award notice on Find a Tender
- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/015844-2025
  17th April 2025 - Transparency notice on Find a Tender

## Notice URLs

- https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/defence-equipment-and-support
- https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/contents

## 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-0504af. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-0504af.json.