704942450A -Modification to Lipless Firing Needle Assembly VTN

Tender description

Modification to Lipless Firing Needle Assembly VTN Lot 1: The Defence Equipment & Support Land Equipment Vehicle Support Team (VST), part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a single source contract to Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) ltd for the manufacture and supply of quantity 400 modified Firing Needle Assemblies (FNA) for the L30A1 (120mm) gun of the Challenger 2 (CR2) main battle tank. It is considered that this Contract can be placed under Regulation 16 (1) (a) (ii) of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations on a Single Source basis with RBSL for Technical Reasons. The FNA is a safety critical internal component of the 120mm L30A1 CR2 gun and requires modification to the current design to prevent obturation failure. This modification is a safety requirement that must be fulfilled to ensure the safe functioning of the L30A1 CR2 Main Armament during operation. RBSL are the Design Authority (DA) and the Original Equipment manufacturer (OEM) for the CR2 and have been the sole supplier of FNAs throughout the life of the L30A1 gun. They have been involved in the development of the L30A1 Weapon System from its inception and possess technical information relating to the Weapon TVE Monitoring system, of which the FNA forms part of. In addition to the Firing Needle Assembly (FNA), the Weapons TVE Monitoring system consists of two interfacing units which interact with the Weapon: • Tube Vent Electrical Display Unit (TVEDU) • Tube Vent Electrical Contactor unit (TVECU) These two units are both procured and/or repaired through RBSL, and the Authority does not have access to the full technical information relating to their design specification. This information is required to ensure that the FNA is built to the correct standard as required to interact with the Weapon TVE Monitoring system and RBSL is the only supplier with this necessary technical information. Without the necessary technical information, there is the risk of misfires, causing a safety issue that would put the crew at risk during Operations. This notice is not a request for expressions of interest so please do not apply to be invited to tender. This notice advises that the Authority has decided to negotiate a contract with the named supplier on a single source basis and is published for reasons of transparency. If you are interested in becoming a sub-contractor for this requirement, you should apply directly to the supplier named above. The Authority is conducting a mandatory ten day standstill period ending at 17:00 on Thursday 3rd August 2023.