Project Corvus - Procurement of an Uncrewed Air System to support the Army Land Tactical Deep Find 24-hr Persistent Surveillance RequirementDeep Find

Overview

Project Corvus - Procurement of an Uncrewed Air System Capability to support the Army Land Tactical Deep Find 24-hr Persistent Surveillance Requirement. On 31st July 2025 Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S), now National Armaments Director Group, published a UK 4 Tender Notice (Notice Identifier: 2025/S 000-044898) on the Find a Tender Service (FTS) Platform to inform the market that it intended to run a procurement for Project CORVUS under the competitive flexible procedure of the Procurement Act 2023. The Authority subsequently issued the Project Specific Questionnaire (PSQ) and invited 18 Bidders to respond to an Invitation to Tender (ITT). By the ITT closing date (13th February 2026) 8 Bidders had submitted a response to the ITT, however none of these responses were suitable. The Authority is now following the process as set out in Section 43 the Procurement Act of 2023. Section 43 of the Procurement Act 2023 permits a contracting authority, in certain circumstances, to switch from a competitive tendering procedure to a direct award. The Authority has considered the statutory conditions for reliance on section 43 and has concluded that they are satisfied in this case. In particular, the Authority considers that no suitable tender was received under the Procurement, as none of the tenders received satisfied the Authority's mandatory requirements when assessed by reference to the stated assessment methodology. The Authority has also concluded that a further competitive tendering procedure would not be possible in the circumstances, for operational reasons. The Authority therefore considers that a direct award under section 43 is justified and compliant with the Procurement Act 2023. As a result, and following the process in section 43(5), the Authority intends to award the Contract to Tekever Ltd as the only bidder in the Procurement to pass Stage 1 (Tender Board and Completeness Check), Stage 2 (Affordability Check), and Stage 3 (PASS/FAIL Tender Criteria) Question PF02 (Ability to Deliver Task Line 1) and also to submit detailed evidence supporting all of its technical responses. Tekever Ltd are not an "Excludable" or "Excluded" supplier in accordance with the Act. The estimated date the contract will be signed (subject to approvals) is 31 August 2026, however this may be subject to change The standstill period begins upon the publication of this notice (5 August 2026) and ends 8 working days later on 14 August 2026 @ 23.59 GMT. Any changes to this will be communicated by issuing a correction/amendment notice.