Artemis Pro Hand-Held Sonars

Descriptions

*VOLUNTARY TRANSPARENCY NOTICE ONLY* Army Commercial, acting on behalf of the UK Ministry of Defence (the Authority) intends to award a contract to Blueprint Design Engineering Ltd ("Blueprint Subsea") for a term of approx. 3 months and an estimated value of £656,400 (inc VAT). The Authority has identified a requirement to purchase the following equipment to support the Army Military Divers: 6 x Artemis Pro Hand-Held Sonars m750d 1 x SeaTrac X150 USBL Becon 1 x Topside Control Unit In accordance with the provisions of The Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020 SI No. 2020/1319, this procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) as amended (in particular by SI 2020/1319). 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 32(2)(b)(ii) of the PCR 2015 because competition is absent for technical reasons. The Artemis Pro HandHeld Sonar (HHS), manufactured by Blueprint Subsea, has been identified to satisfy the Army Military Divers requirement. The sonars and associated equipment are required by the Authority to provide high accuracy navigation, sonar imaging for target detection and identification, text communication between divers and the surface, diver tracking and the ability to plan, record and review mission data. The equipment must be interoperable with the equipment currently in use by the Authority and is required to interact with other systems, such as other Artemis Pros, Topside Control units and Diver propulsion devices and ancillaries. The ARTEMIS Pro HHS is the designated NATO Military Underwater Navigation System. The Artemis Pro Hand Held Sonar is the only sonar that can interoperate with existing equipment and is therefore the only equipment that can technically meeting the Authority's requirement. These Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) items are proprietary to Blueprint Design Engineering Ltd - the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) - and hence the only viable solution for technical reasons; namely a necessity for the assets to be interoperable with other Blueprint systems, including the associated software, previously procured by the Authority. 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. A Voluntary Transparency Notice has been submitted to Find a Tender via the DSP.