Purchase of REMUS 300M Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Descriptions

The Royal Navy, part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a contract with a value of £4.7m to Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) for the purchase of five 300m-capable Small Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (SUAVs) to the Royal Navy. 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 (in accordance with the relevant legislation) is lawful in accordance with regulation 32(2)(b)(ii) of the PCR 2015 because competition is absent for technical reasons. This is because Royal Navy needs to be able to use equipment that is interchangeable with the US Navy for partnership operations and the equipment must be compatible with current systems already in operation. HII are the sole manufacturers of those equipment, and they are the only supplier with the capability to deliver this contract. No alternative or substitutes can be used as this equipment is already in operation by the US Navy. The total duration of this contract does not exceed 3 years.