---
title: "CHC/680 Ground Mission Support System (GMSS) Support"
ocid: "ocds-h6vhtk-06e11c"
canonical_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/?ocid=ocds-h6vhtk-06e11c"
markdown_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e11c.md"
json_url: "https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e11c.json"
source: "Find A Tender Service"
current_stage: "Award"
buyer: "Defence Equipment and Support"
published: "2026-08-11"
---

# CHC/680 Ground Mission Support System (GMSS) Support

Buyer: Defence Equipment and Support  
Current stage: Award  
OCID: ocds-h6vhtk-06e11c

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## Summary

Defence Equipment and Support procured support for the Ground Mission Support System (GMSS), the command, control and communications equipment used with the Chinook helicopter force. The requirement covers spares, repairs and technical support for equipment owned by the authority, including equipment for which Thales UK Limited holds design rights. This is a defence and security services requirement, covering command, control and communication systems and helpdesk and support services (CPV 35711000 and 72253000). Delivery and support apply across the United Kingdom. The equipment remains in service and supports Chinook operational readiness, so the requirement concerns maintaining an existing military capability rather than supplying a new standalone system.

The procurement is complete and was awarded through a direct award without prior publication under Regulation 41 of the Procurement Act 2023 and Schedule 5, paragraph 7, because changing supplier could create incompatible equipment and disproportionate technical difficulties. Thales UK Limited was selected. The awarded value is £7,200,000 excluding VAT, or £8,640,000 including VAT. The award date is 11 August 2026. The contract period is 30 November 2026 to 29 November 2029, with two optional one-year extensions at the authority’s discretion, allowing a maximum end date of 29 November 2031. There was one completed lot, covering the full requirement.

This award indicates demand for suppliers able to sustain safety-critical military command, control and communications equipment already integrated with the Chinook platform. A credible competitor for a future requirement would need strong original-equipment or equivalent technical capability in spares, repairs, fault diagnosis, helpdesk provision and ongoing equipment support. Experience of maintaining systems with platform-specific interfaces, design-rights constraints and formal clearance requirements would be important, as would the capacity to protect operational readiness across a national defence environment. The selected supplier was a large defence technology company, and the direct-award rationale places particular weight on compatibility with existing equipment, technical support continuity and avoiding disproportionate difficulties in operation or maintenance.

## Notice

Provision of Support to Ground Mission Support System (GMSS).

### Procurement Information

The Authority intends to directly award this contract pursuant to Regulation 41 of the Procurement Act 2023, in line with the direct award justifications under Schedule 5. It is considered that this contract can be placed via Direct Award without prior publication under Schedule 5, paragraph 7. Paragraph 7 provides that the Authority may directly award a public contract that concerns the supply of goods, services or works by the existing supplier where they are intended as an extension to, or partial replacement of the goods, services or works where a change in supplier would result in the contracting authority receiving goods, services or works that are different from, or incompatible with, the existing goods, services or works; and the difference or incompatibility would result in disproportionate technical difficulties in operation or maintenance. The requirement is for an extension to the existing services through the provision of spares, repairs and technical support of equipment wholly owned, with design rights, by Thales UK Ltd. It is also noted that, a change in supplier or equipment would directly affect the operational readiness of the Chinook force as any new equipment would require clearance due to incompatibility, resulting in disproportionate technical difficulties for the end user. Thales UK Ltd Ground Mission Support System equipment remains in service with Chinook helicopter, and as such this equipment is the only of its kind for this capability that is cleared for Chinook use. Pursuant to Schedule 5, Clause 7, a change of supplier would result in the Authority receiving goods of a different form, and incompatible with both the platform and current equipment.

## Key Details

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Publication source | Find A Tender Service |
| Latest notice | https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/076145-2026 |
| Notice type | UK5 - Transparency 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 | 11 Aug 2026 |
| Submission deadline | Not specified |
| Future notice date | Not specified |
| Award date | 11 Aug 2026 |
| Contract period | 30 Nov 2026 - 29 Nov 2029 |
| Recurrence | Not specified |

## Values

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender value | Not specified |
| Lots value | Not specified |
| Awards value | £7,200,000 |
| Contracts value | Not specified |

## Status

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Tender status | Complete |
| Lots status | Complete |
| Awards status | Pending |
| Contracts status | Not specified |

## Buyer

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Main buyer | Defence Equipment and Support |
| Locality | BRISTOL |
| Postcode area | 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 | Thales UK Limited |

## CPV Codes

### Divisions

- 35 - Security, fire-fighting, police and defence equipment
- 72 - IT services: consulting, software development, Internet and support

### Codes

- 35711000 - Command, control, communication systems
- 72253000 - Helpdesk and support services

## Release History

- 11 Aug 2026 at 11:42 - Award - UK5 - Transparency Notice - https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/076145-2026

## Documents

- https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/076145-2026
  11th August 2026 - 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
- https://www.thalesgroup.com

## 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-06e11c. The underlying structured data is available as OCDS JSON at https://d3tenders.com/contract/ocds-h6vhtk-06e11c.json.