The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has announced plans for a Tactical Communications Logistics Support (TCLS) contract, valued at up to £550 million, to sustain the UK’s battlefield communications systems.
According to a prior information notice published on 3 September 2025, the five-year contract will run from February 2028 to February 2033 and will provide spares, repair support, stock management and storage for tactical command, control and communications equipment.
The MOD said the service provider will be responsible for monitoring demand through forecasts, managing repairs, and recommending future spare purchases for approval. The requirement is linked to the Land Equipment Tactical Communications Information Systems (TacCIS) programme.
To shape the requirement, the TacSys Service Executive Team will host a supplier conference on 16 October 2025 via Microsoft Teams. The event will run from 1000 to 1230 hrs and will be recorded, with copies available afterwards through the TacSys Service Executive Industry Engagement channel.
The MOD stated the purpose of the conference is to update the market, explore key challenges and opportunities, and better understand industry capabilities. It follows a previous TacSys industry day held in January 2025.
The MOD said that the engagement does not constitute a pre-qualification exercise. Any formal procurement process will be conducted in accordance with procurement law.
Is “looking at” the same as pre-concept studies?
*asking for a friend
It seems that professional, traded soldiers cannot look after their own kit anymore. I suppose that it saves on pensions.
Five Hundred And Fifty Million Pounds Sterling! Just say that out slowly.
How about the RN looking after their own kit and spending the £550m on another T31.
This is where much of MoD budget goes to.
And to be fair, DE&S, Defence Equipment and Support, is not just about buying equipment, perish the thought.
Another contractor within the MIC smiling.
Shown again and again by Ministers own statements where their priorities lie.
The prices always seem inflated, don’t they. But that is the whole point, profit at MoD and tax payers expense.
Assume back in Cold War days this was in house?
I’m old enough to remember the Cold War, and I don’t recall anything like this happening. I’m guessing it’s an extension of Gordon Brown’s crazy PFI schemes. You know, “It’s the Navy’s job to inflict lethal force on our enemies, not own and maintain the things we use to do so – someone else can do that better than us.” Better maybe, but at a much greater cost because of all the risk and reward stuff, and the fact that Brown and his civil servants were economically illiterate (an economically illiterate Chancellor, now where have I heard that said again recently!) and had no commercial experience. So they got rinsed.
Seems as if it’s still happening.
Hi Daniele, To talk just Army as this is for LandTacCIS…Back in the day and not even going back as far as the Cold War, spares fitted by the User or REME were procured by Civil Servants (CS) in the relevant IPT for Level 1, 2, 3 Maint. User would do Level 1 maint, REME attached to the unit (First Line ie LAD/Regt Wksp) would do Level 2 maint, REME at REME Battalion (Second Line) or pers at REME/ABRO/DSG Static workshop in UK or Germany would do Level 3 maint and Industry would do Level 4 maint.
Army would store equipment, never Industry.
Under this new contract the service provider (Industry) will be ‘responsible for monitoring demand through forecasts, managing repairs, and recommending future spare purchases for approval’. All used to be done in-house by the IPT (formerly at Andover (HQ QMG then DLO) but latterly at the IPT at DE&S ABW. All that, plus spares management/ordering, stock management and storage was or is done in-house by the IPT.
There is little competitive about this new process. A bidder that could do this for £350m expended will bill MoD for £550m. The MoD should simply set equipment availability criteria and challenge Industry to bid for the service and state their price. Lowest price proposed by a credible bidder wins.
What is not clear is how much uniformed personnel will be allowed to still do in the way of maintenance.