704942450 - Modification to Lipless Firing Needle Assemblies -VTN CF

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 modification and supply of quantity 400 Lipless Firing needle Assembly (LFNA) for the L30A1 (120mm) gun of the Challenger 2 (CR2) main battle tank.

It is considered that this Contract can be placed on a Single Source basis with RBSL for Technical Reasons. The FNA is a safety critical internal component of the L30A1 CR2 gun that requires a key modification to the design to include a mechanical fail-safe. This modification is a safety requirement that must be fulfilled to ensure the safe functioning of the platform whilst operational.

RBSL are the Design Authority (DA) and the Original Equipment manufacturer (OEM) for the platform and therefore have all the necessary tools, skills and specialist knowledge to undertake the Firing Needle Assembly (FNA) modification to the required technical manufacturing standards.

Some CR2 platforms have recently experienced some cracking faults on the FNA which have not been seen previously; the ability to out inspect the modified FNA to the current repair specifications is paramount in the safety assurance for the LFNA.

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 issue of this Voluntary Transparency Notice (VTN) will commence the start of a 10 day standstill period, which will end on the 2nd of October 2022 at 16:00pm, to provide opportunity to challenge this award decision.