The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has issued a Voluntary Ex-Ante Transparency (VEAT) notice regarding a contract with LEI Ltd for the mid-life improvement of the L129A1 Sharpshooter rifle.
This notice, published on 30 July 2024, indicates the MOD’s intention to award the contract directly to LEI Ltd without a prior call for competition.
A VEAT notice is a public announcement that a contracting authority intends to award a contract to a specific supplier without prior publication of a call for competition. This procedure is used to ensure transparency and provide an opportunity for any challenges to be raised before the contract is finalized.
The contract, valued at £20 million, aims to convert the in-service fleet of L129A1 Sharpshooter rifles to the L129A2 variant. This conversion will address issues of obsolescence, spare parts availability, and performance improvements.
The contract will not increase the Total Fleet Requirement (TFR) but will include additional procurement of the L129A2 variant to ensure the current fleet is maintained. LEI Ltd, selected for their technical knowledge and expertise, will be responsible for maintaining and underwriting the associated safety case, technical documentation, and configuration management.
According to the VEAT notice, “The Authority seeks to place a contract with LEI Ltd who has the technical knowledge, knowhow, skills, history of the weapons and tools necessary to address the requirements of the MLI. Only LEI ltd can Maintain and underwrite the associated Safety Case, technical documentation, the configuration management to avoid mixed fleet of the weapons without the Authority incurring an unacceptable level of risk and associated cost.”
The award is based on a combination of price and quality, and subcontracting opportunities are expected. The legal justification for the direct award is provided by the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011, as amended.
The contract will upgrade the L129A1 rifles to the enhanced L129A2 variant, ensuring their effectiveness and reliability in the field.
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Any idea whether the new variant will be made ambidextrous. i.e. allowing the user to aim and shoot from the left side?
£20 million seems insane. I believe we only bought 3000 of the bloody things!
Yes but It takes decades of meetings and conceptual planning to finalise the eventual product.
Then you have to include Bonuses and Pensions.
Dry Rot is not easily cured.
Likely to be something like a monthly meeting for all heads of office. A different location each time with all in hotels, expenses and rates. They just about manage the minutes of the previous meeting and set the agenda for the next meeting. Run out of time for anything else. Hit the golf course. Top dollar evening meal and entertainment. Sound familiar?
L129A2 is already inservice with the Royal Marines in 6.5 Creedmoor as apposed to 7.62×51, this is to replace the weapons in the Army and RAF Regt.
To be fair the sight alone is 3k so what’s that 9million it’s probably going to get a moderator that’s another 1/2 million it all soon adds up
Wow! I had no idea. Thanks.
The Moderator seems a lot of money for a tube with some washers in lol.
That would be over £6,600 per rifle !
So we now have “fleets” of rifles? Seems to be April 1st every week now.
Why is EVERYTHING so expensive with Uk defence procurement?
MIC mate. Last year the Irish needed thermal sights, so they bought off the shelf and saved a packet. If that was the UK? Well you know.
The ongoing gravy train. And. to my cynical side, the primary purpose of our large defence budget for ministers and MPs.
Totally agree Daniele.
We must have the worst value for money in any defence budget in the world, I don’t mean our soldier, sailors and airmen (sorry aviators now), purely in massively overpriced equipment and not much of it
It’s a mix of poor procurement, jobs for the boys, the MIC, and the fact we have things to pay for most others lack.
Nuclear deterrent aside, we still have key gaps in capability and small numbers of expensive kit, most of which is late, overpriced and not fit for purpose. I have to wonder what use Ajax would be in a conflict like Ukraine, or our tragic lack of battlefield air defence, and nothing (yet) against small UAV’s. I’ve been in the military 23 yrs and it’s glaringly obvious how poorly equipped we are to fight a peer nation
Actually thete a quality piece of kit and it actually saves money to.upgrade I.woukd wager that all.the comments made are in relation to.the contract total.rather than any knowledge of the performance and costings of a modern day weapons platform
Please correct me if I am wrong but, I have seen somewhere that the core basis for the L129A2 upgrade is to improve lethality through ballistic performance by way of a conversion to the 6.5mm Creedmoor (6.5×48mm) calibre round. Therefore It is bound to incur insane unjustifiable inflationary costs as is usual with the MOD.
Too many pencil pushers dragging their feet to milk as much money as they can. UK defense is so outdated that the next war will be fought with BB guns and catapults