Voluntary Transparency Notice (VTN) for Spirent Simulator Support

Tender description

Under the requirements of the Position, Navigation and Timing (PNT) Project Office (PO), the testing of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)to support MoD programmes from research through to in-service performance assessment and system/equipment troubleshooting, is conducted using an existing suite of Spirent Simulators. UK PNT PO has two Spirent GNSS simulator systems, each providing a variety of testing capabilities/scenarios; a 9000-series and a 7000-series. Both simulators have beensupported by Spirent under a maintenance & support contract (Contract Number: 700421366) which expired on 31st March 2024. The Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) Space Delivery Team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), intends to award a follow-on four-year contract to Spirent Communications Plc (“Spirent”) for the support & maintenance of Spirent Simulators (including the support of the SimINERTIAL software that is required for these simulators) owned by the Space Delivery Team. DE&S have acquired an additional 2 Spirent Simulators since the previous contract, these simulators will also be added to the new contract. Support to these additional simulators will be included as options and can be invoked at any point. Justification For Non-Competitive Decision: Spirent Communications Plc are the Originial Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) for all (hardware and software) component parts of the simulators in question and therefore have all the technical know-how associated with the design, manufacture and support of the Spirent simulator product line, required to support and maintain the equipment and associated software. In addition, the software source code included in the hardware is Spirent copyright and confidential material, and as such cannot be support by another contractor. Lot 1: The Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) Space Delivery Team, part of the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD), intends to award a follow-on four-year contract to Spirent Communications Plc (“Spirent”) for the support & maintenance of Spirent Simulators (including the support of the SimINERTIAL software that is required for these simulators) owned by the Space Delivery Team. DE&S have acquired an additional 2 Spirent Simulators since the previous contract, these simulators will also be added to the new contract. Support to these additional simulators will be included as options and can be invoked at any point.