MadFox

The Royal Navy, part of the UK Ministry of Defence, intends to award a 4 year contract with a value of approximately £370,000 to L3 HarrisLtd for the provision of support to the Royal Navy’s MADFOX boat, in particular general onboard systems hardware and software upgrade and modification. In accordance with regulation 4 of Defence and Security Public Procurement (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 SI No. 2019/697, this procurement falls to be regulated under the provisions of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (DSPCR 2011) as amended (in particular by SI 2019/697 and SI 2020/1450). 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 16(1)(a)(ii) of the DSPCR 2011 because competition is absent for technical reasons. This is because the Contractor alone as design authority possesses the specific technological expertise and knowledge and access to relevant information including data in proprietary software to undertake the work and ensure system compatibility with existing MADFOX hardware [both aboard the MADFOX from a structure and stability, naval architecture and overall platform safety and integrity perspective and from a fleet-wide perspective] and can alone provide a safety case to meet the reasonable requirements of the MOD. [Furthermore access to physical equipment to be used in undertaking the work is exclusive to L3 and will not be available to any other supplier]