- Home
- Tenders
- United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
- Production and Installation of Integrated UHF SATCOM & EFMTE 4.2 Baseline Equipment for the Royal Navy's Type 26 Batch 2 Ships
Production and Installation of Integrated UHF SATCOM & EFMTE 4.2 Baseline Equipment for the Royal Navy's Type 26 Batch 2 Ships
AI Summary
The Ministry of Defence has commissioned the production and installation of an integrated UHF satellite communications and EFMTE 4.2 baseline system for the next‑generation Type 26 Batch 2 naval vessels, specifically ships 4 through 8. The system is intended to deliver a robust, simultaneous voice and data communications service that meets the Royal Navy’s Information Exchange Requirements, thereby enabling secure and efficient operational coordination across the fleet. The installation is to take place within the existing Type 26 ship‑building timetable, ensuring that the new baseline equipment is integrated as a standard component of each vessel without delaying the vessel acceptance dates.
The contracted deliverables comprise the manufacture of the UHF SATCOM–EFMTE 4.2 hardware and software, its qualification against Ministry of Defence accreditation standards, and the full installation and commissioning on the designated ships. The system must be approved by Naval Command Headquarters, conform to the MoD’s technical specifications for integrated satellite communications, and support simultaneous voice and data transmission in line with the approved baseline design.
Description
Please note, a Voluntary ex ante transparency notice has previously been published for this contract on the Find a Tender website, which can be seen here: https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/029245-2024
STS Defence Limited have previously designed a bespoke UHF SATCOM 4.2 Design capability in partnership with SNXP Limited which is accredited for use by the MoD on the T26 Fleet. The installation of this capability in T26 Ship 1 was carried out by STS Defence Limited under a task on an existing MoD Contract. This Contract was competed, and STS Defence Limited was awarded the contract. Thereafter, the installation of this capability in T26 Ships 2 and 3 was directly awarded to STS Defence Limited under a separate contract for Technical Reasons pursuant to Regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the DSPCR 2011, which is also applicable to this contract.
Contractual timelines for the delivery of this Integrated UHF SATCOM & EFMTE 4.2 baseline equipment capability into T26 Ships 4 to 8 are already embedded within the existing Type 26 Ship Building Contract (Contract Ref. No. SHIPACQ036) as a requirement to enable repeat supply and fit. Only STS Defence and SNXP Limited have the technical ability and experience necessary to produce and install this Integrated UHF SATCOM & EFMTE 4.2 baseline equipment capability into T26 Ships 4 to 8 in a manner that is accredited for use by the MoD and meets the required timescales. It is not viable for another supplier to deliver an alternative design that meets the MoD's technical requirements within the necessary timescales.
Further, the STS Defence/SNXP SATCOM design has been approved by Naval Command Headquarters (NCHQ) to ensure it is fit for use. This design and accreditation process took several years to complete. To bring in a third-party supplier to design new equipment, obtain MoD approval and accreditation for the new design and then build and install it on T26 Ships 4 to 8 would incur significant and disproportionate additional time and cost consequences to the MoD, which would also result in significant delays to Vessel Acceptance Date (the date by which MoD are required to have agreed that the newly built T26 Ship has been delivered to an acceptable level against the requirements defined in the T26 Ship Building Contract (Contract Ref. No. SHIPACQ036)), thereby causing an unacceptable capability gap to the Royal Navy.
Location of contract: SN13 9NR
Value of contract: £12,964,134.5
Contract start date: 4 November 2025
Contract end date: 1 May 2033
Contract is suitable for SMEs?: Yes
Contract is suitable for VCSEs?: No