Procurement of Wire Insulation Piercing Probes (WIPPs)

Concepts

• bristol
• electronic meters
• wipps
• wire
• probes
• piercing
• insulation

Location

Bristol

Description

Procurement of Wire Insulation Piercing Probes (WIPPs)

Award Detail

Renewal Options

2 Option Years

CPV Codes

• 38552000 - Electronic meters

Indicators

• Options are available.

Legal Justification

The Special Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Search, Exploitation & Countermeasures (SEEC) Delivery Team, as part of the UK Ministry of Defence (“MOD”), intends to award a contract to Thales UK Ltd for the procurement of Wire Insulation Piercing Probes (WIPPs). These ancillaries are used in conjunction with a Long-Range Wire Diagnostic Tool (LRWDT). This contract will be for the procurement of WIPPs over a fixed 5-year term, with options to extend by a further 2 years to cover any emergent requirements. The contract will run to 2030 with an expected value of £450,000 over the full seven years. This value is inclusive of an initial procurement of 620 sets of banana-end WIPPs (x6 per set). The contract is for the procurement of WIPPs only, there is no requirement for in-service support. The WIPPs have been in-service with the UK Armed Forces since 2021 as an ancillary that attaches to the LRWDT. The WIPPs have been developed and modified specifically for UK military use. The Intellectual Property for the WIPPs are held by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) - Warwick Test Supplies Limited. The OEM has an exclusivity agreement with the Contractor – Thales UK Ltd. Thales UK Ltd have been granted an exclusive licence to use the relevant technical information relating to the WIPPs (which is necessary to manufacture the WIPPs) by the OEM. Therefore, Thales UK Ltd are the only company with the technical know-how to undertake the manufacture of the WIPPs. The UK Armed Forces are trained in the operation of WIPPs. Introducing a new system and operating two systems in parallel would introduce an unacceptable additional training requirement and an unacceptable risk to safety. The WIPPs are specifically designed and modified to be interoperable with the LRWDT. Accordingly, Thales UK Ltd is the only Contractor which can deliver this requirement. It is therefore considered that this contract can be awarded to Thales UK Ltd using the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice pursuant to Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the UK Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 for technical reasons.