The Provision of a Design, De-modification & Installation Service for Communication Equipment in Police Rotary and Fixed Wing Aircraft

What the buyer is asking for

This tender is being published by BlueLight Commercial on behalf of the National Police Air Service (NPAS) who are seeking to award contracts for 'the Provision of a Design, De-modification and Installation Service for Communication Equipment in Police Rotary and Fixed Wing Aircraft.' Scope: The Authority requires a UK Part 21 approved modification that provisions the installation of Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) namely a new Aircraft Communication System (ACS) as part of the Emergency Services Mobile Communication Programme (ESMCP). Thereafter, the Authority requires the execution of an approved installation and associated testing of the ACS along with a Certificate of Release to Service (CRS). For the Authority to successfully transition onto the new Emergency Services Network (ESN), the Authority requires the de-modification (removal) of existing TETRA radio equipment and the installation of compatible replacement new hardware that initially supports a new TETRA solution and pre-positions for the future ESN LTE capability via dual wiring looms and antennae. This will provide the Initial Operating Capability (IOC) to ensure continued operational capability during the ESMCP transitional period and compliance with the future ESN requirements. The scope includes the removal of the existing TETRA, and where applicable, marine band VHF radio suite, the design for the installation of the replacement solution; and the subsequent installation of IOC and marine band VHF hardware across the Authority’s aircraft fleet. Total aircraft to be modified: Rotary Wing =11 Fixed Wing = 4 This contract is being tendered on behalf of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) who are the contracting authority for NPAS. NPAS is not a separate, incorporated entity and therefore WYCA currently enters into contractual arrangements on behalf of NPAS. The Chief Constable of West Yorkshire is responsible for the operational delivery of NPAS. BlueLight Commercial provides commercial support services to police forces and blue light organisations across England and Wales and has been appointed by WYCA to administer the Procurement. The requirement will be tendered as two separate lots as follows; • Lot 1: Rotary Wing • Lot 2: Fixed Wing Bidders may bid for either one or both lots. BlueLight Commercial reserves the right to refine the award criteria at Stage 3 of this procurement process, in accordance with Section 24 of the Procurement Act 2023. The final award criteria and associated weightings will be published prior to the invitation of final tenders at Stage 3 of the procurement. Refinements to the award criteria may include, but are not limited to: a. adding sub-criteria to those set out in the tender notice/associated tender documents; b. adding more detail to existing main criteria set out in tender notice/associated tender documents; c. adding more detail to existing sub-criteria set out in the tender notice/associated tender documents; d. changing weightings within the pre-existing range as indicated in the table above. The potential range of the Award Criteria weightings are detailed as follows: Price: 40% - 50% Quality: 40% - 50% Social Value: 10% The anticipated contract period will be 1st July 2027 until 31st December 2029 with the option to extend for 12 months. Any changes to this commencement date will be communicated to all Bidders through the ‘BlueLight’ e-Commercial portal. https://atamis-7459.my.site.com/s/Welcome

How this is scored

Published by the buyer. A winning response is written to these weightings, not to the question.

• 10%qualitySocial Value
• 50%qualityQuality
• 40%pricePrice

2 lots

You can usually bid for one lot without bidding for all of them.

• Rotary Wing£5.2m

  Provision of a Design, De-modification & Installation of Communication Equipment in Police Rotary Wing Aircraft

• Fixed Wing£1.6m

  Provision of a Design, De-modification & Installation of Communication Equipment in Police Fixed Wing Aircraft

How contested is this?

Buyers publish how many bids they received. Across 78 comparable procurements we can tell you the typical field size, how often one of these goes uncontested, and whether the buyer awards on price or on quality.

Timeline

4 published dates · Europe/London

1. Tender notice published26 days ago

   27 Aug 2026, 12:56 BST
2. Clarification questions byin 16 days

   7 Oct 2026, 17:00 BST
3. Submission deadlinein 29 days

   21 Oct 2026, 13:00 BST
4. Award decision expected byin 254 days

   2 Jun 2027, 23:59 BST

Commercial outcome and contract awards

Nothing awarded yet

Notice history

1 event · 1 release on Find a Tender

1. Tender notice27 Aug 2026, 12:56 BST081739-2026

Documents

• Tender documents are available for download via the portal
• Tender notice on Find a Tender