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UNITED KINGDOM
05 Sep 22. MBDA has a requirement to source a supplier to assembly a number of “dummy” missiles for a customer order. information is provided below:
- The missile is approximately 2 metres long
- There are circa 140 different items that need to be assembled in order to complete the missile
- These items in the main are machined components but there are also some composite items, fasteners, fabrications and seals and gaskets.
- There will be no testing required for the finished assembly
- The member have a current supply chain and suppliers set up for around 50% of the components that are required. They can share this information with the suppliers on the enquiry.
- They require the supplier to purchase the items or manufacture where they can as they do not want to free issue any material.
- Quantities at present, they are looking at circa 27 finished assembled missiles. Delivery (ideally) to commence early 2023 and the program would last through to 2025 at present.
31 Aug 22. UK seeks new RCVs for explosive ordnance disposal. The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) is seeking to procure 50 medium-sized remote-controlled vehicles (RCVs) as part of project Dartrose.
A total of GBP25 m (USD29 m) is available for the procurement, which includes 10-year through-life maintenance, the MoD announced on 25 August.
The contract is expected to start on 25 March 2024. The MoD had not responded to questions at the time of publication.
In October 2020 a request for information (RFI) was issued for project Dartrose to inform the potential acquisition and support of ‘Remote Controlled Explosive Ordnance Disposal Vehicles’. The Remote Controlled Vehicles Delivery Team (SAM RCV DT) will be responsible for the acquisition, the RFI added.
The team stipulated a requirement for commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) RCVs that weigh approximately 60–140 kg, with only minor modifications expected. The provision of ‘Train the Trainer’ maintenance is also required.
Deliveries were scheduled to run from 30 September 2021 to 29 September 2026, the RFI noted. (Source: Janes)
05 Sep 22. Project: General Support Utility Platform RFI – General Support Utility Platform RFI The Army are seeking market information as to military light utility platforms as part of an initial scoping of options to replace Land Rover and other similar vehicles as part of the General Support Utility Platform Programme. Companies are invited to provide information on current and developing military utility platforms. Variants of interest include General Support, Ambulance and Fitted for Radio particularly when these are all included within the same vehicle family. Platforms should be no more than 3.5T and be driven on Cat B license (potentially less ambulance variant).
Notice Details
CONTRACT NOTICE – NATIONAL
Notice Type: SUPPLIES
Official Name: Ministry of Defence
Town: Bristol
Country: UK
For the attention of: Maj Tom Murphy
E-Mail:
Internet Address (URL):
Project Details
- Project Code
General Support Utility Platform RFI
- Project Title
General Support Utility Platform RFI
12 Sep 22. The UK MoD recently issued a Request For Information (RFI) for a GSUP – General Support Utility Platform (GSUP) for the British Army, writes Bob Morrison.
According to the RFI: “The [British] Army are seeking market information as to military light utility platforms as part of an initial scoping of options to replace Land Rover and other similar vehicles as part of the General Support Utility Platform Programme. Companies are invited to provide information on current and developing military utility platforms. Variants of interest include General Support, Ambulance and Fitted for Radio particularly when these are all included within the same vehicle family. Platforms should be no more than 3.5T and be driven on Cat B licence (potentially less ambulance variant).”
When we published the UK Military Medium Utility Vehicle Doldrums feature last month we were unaware that an RFI had been circulated, which is unsurprising as not only was no Public Sector Notice published on the Government’s Find A Tender website, but even some potentially interested suppliers appear not to have been aware. It will be interesting to see which companies receive formal Invitations To Tender.
Some potential candidates which I did not cover in my last article could include the Ford Ranger, the Jeep J8 and the STI Steyr LMV which are all already in military service. I photographed the Ford and the Steyr, which are two different approaches to the same utility vehicle requirement, at MSPO 2022 earlier this week and plan to produce a brief article on the latter in due course. The Jeep J8 featured here was displayed by Spanish company EINSA at FEINDEF 2021 in Madrid last November.
- Incidentally Supacat yesterday announced via social media that they will be displaying a J8 at Defence Vehicle Dynamics 2022 later this month: “Working closely with AADS-Gib, we will be presenting the J8 Light Patrol Vehicle at DVD, an affordable solution to Light Mobility Requirements.”
Some might have spotted that the RFI only mentions the Army and not the Royal Marines and the RAF Regiment, who both also use the ageing Land Rover ‘Wolf’ Defender. We suspect the Marines might be going down the NSPA route, as they did with the Polaris MRZR. We believe there is also a separate requirement for UK SpecOps vehicles, including a replacement for the WMIK Wolf variants, but that is another story. Interesting 4×4 times ahead? (Source: www.joint-forces.com)
24 Aug 22. Collaboration Event: Novel Amphibious Craft. The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) are to host a collaboration event in October to aid the acceleration of partnerships across industry
- An event to accelerate partnerships across Industry
- In advance of a new themed competition, Novel Amphibious Craft, launching in October 2022
- Meet subject matter experts in this field
The Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) will host a collaboration event in advance of a new themed competition launch, Novel Amphibious Craft. This competition launches in October 2022, and will fund promising technologies to help develop a Commando Insertion Craft (CIC) fit to combat the threats of the 21st Century.
To create a platform that can transport personnel and light vehicles across great distances, in challenging conditions, whilst evading detection from coastal sensors is a significant challenge. It demands collaboration between experts in many disciplines, including those outside the defence sector.
This event looks to accelerate partnerships, by bringing together prospective innovators across industry. There will also be an opportunity to connect with subject matter experts from the competition team.
Why should you attend?
Attending the collaboration event will allow you to:
- understand the requirements of front line operators
- form new collaborative relationships with innovators that have complimentary knowledge
- meet the experts from DASA and the Royal Marines Commando Force
Who should attend?
There are multiple complex engineering requirements for this competition and we expect that a proportion of the proposals will be collaborative efforts between multiple suppliers. This event targets innovators interested in networking and/or establishing collaborations before submitting a proposal to the competition.
Register
Register your interest in attending via this Eventbrite page. Registration will close at midday on Friday 23 September 2022.
Background
The CIC will be the medium lift craft to deliver Royal Marine Commando teams and their equipment from specialist ships to foreign and hostile coastal access points without being detected.
Royal Marine Commando teams will be expected to operate independently and as part of a larger group, and will complement the force’s network of sensors and command and control capabilities. The craft must be able to travel ranges of 300 nautical miles (threshold) at speeds of no less than 25 knots in sea state 2.
The Novel Amphibious Craft competition is seeking innovative technologies that could help to develop a novel landing craft that can:
- travel at sustained high speed over a long range
- provide the ability to deliver personnel and light vehicles to a coastal access point with limited/ no impact on operational speed/capability
- relaunch from the coastal access point
- consider Signature Management across all spectrums to reduce probability of detection (for example thermal, radar, visual, acoustic)
This competition is expected to launch in late October 2022, with funding being provided to proposals that successfully pass DASA’s assessment and moderation panels.
Important information
- Please note that the event will be an open public event held at OFFICIAL; the appropriateness of discussions should be considered by attendees.
- While we encourage collaboration, we wish to stress that it is the sole responsibility of each attendee to consider and manage appropriately any disclosure of their proprietary information to any other attendee or party, given the public nature of the event.
- There will be a limited hybrid component to this event via Microsoft Teams.
- Photographic identification will be required at entry.
Further event details will be sent upon confirmation of your place to attend. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
17 Jul 22. Launch of new UK innovative defence programme backed by £16m on July 27th.
A £16m programme to boost small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) defence innovation has been launched today.
- Keeping the UK at the forefront of defence technology
- Joining innovations and up to 50% of government funding with large suppliers
- Grants of up to £500,000 available per project
With the innovation of SMEs, the resources of big suppliers and initial funding from government, the Defence Technology Exploitation Programme (DTEP) is designed to bring the key components together to allow pioneering projects to flourish. The aim is to keep the United Kingdom at the forefront of defence technology, improving the capabilities available to our Armed Forces, the competitiveness of UK industry and growing potential exports benefits.
Individual grants of up to 50% of a project’s value – to a maximum of £500,000 per grant – will be available through DTEP for collaborative projects between SMEs and larger suppliers, supporting the integration of novel technologies, materials and processes into MOD’s supply chains.
DTEP will be open for proposals year-round, with cycles closing at 3-month intervals for assessment of submissions.
Defence Minister Jeremy Quin said: “Innovation within defence is crucial to maintaining competitive advantage for our Armed Forces. The Defence Technology Exploitation Programme is a positive step in how we support SMEs and larger suppliers to work together to improve the resilience and competitiveness of the MOD’s supply chain. Today’s launch builds upon the successful BEIS-funded National Aerospace Technology Exploitation Programme (NATEP) and a pilot of DTEP conducted with Invest Northern Ireland (Invest NI). An example of work supported by this pilot is CCP Gransden, based near Ballygowan, collaborating with Thales and Ulster University on a project to replace the Starstreak surface-to-air missile system’s metallic canister with a composite version – reducing reliance on global supply chains for the over 50 components currently needed.”
Head of the Defence and Security Accelerator, Anita Friend said: “DTEP has been designed to help SMEs join defence supply chains and offers SMEs and larger suppliers the opportunity to come together to solve defence problems. For an SME, DTEP offers not only funding but also the opportunity to deliver new innovations into the UK defence supply chain and a way to develop and scale up their business. DTEP is also beneficial for larger companies, offering early access to new technologies or processes that they may be able to help commercialise.”
Applications to DTEP can be made by UK-based SMEs looking to form a collaboration with a UK-based higher-tier supplier to help integrate and take the novel solution to market. The key areas of interest for proposals are set out in detail on the DTEP portal and are aligned with the recently published Defence Capability Framework.
DASA DTEP Business Relationship Managers will be available at all steps of the process, from project formation until after project completion. They will support SMEs through signposting, mentoring and offering other support services.
DTEP will be delivered by the MOD’s Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA), in partnership with the Innovate UK group, and it is a core commitment in the Defence and Security Industrial Strategy and SME Action Plan.
Background
- The DTEP page can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-defence-technology-exploitation-programme
- The specific areas of interest follow the MOD’s Enduring Capability Challenges. More information can be found in the Defence Capability Framework here.
- More details on the CCP Gransden, Thales and Ulster University programme can be found here.
- Innovate UK is the UK’s innovation agency. The Innovate UK group is an ecosystem of expertise, funding, and powerful connections driving value through innovation. Innovate UK and Innovate UK KTN are working in close partnership with the MOD and DASA on the delivery of the DTEP programme. (Source: https://www.gov.uk/)
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