Competition document: Right On Time

Question 1

1. Introduction

Accepted Answer

1.1 Competition Aim

This Defence and Security Accelerator (DASA) competition, run on behalf of the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), is seeking to engage with industry and academia to identify, develop, and demonstrate to the military logistics community, innovations that have the potential to deliver a step change in military logistics capability across the Maritime, Land and Air domains.

The focus of this competition is on innovative autonomy and automation (including automation for additive manufacturing) for future Deployed Military Logistics Hubs. The primary aim is to inform future military user requirements pan-domain (Maritime, Land and Air), at this time, procurement of successful solutions or further development funding cannot be guaranteed. A total of £800k is available for this competition to fund multiple proposals, with projects showcasing their innovation at a demonstration event to be held in the UK during September 2021. Dstl will be assisted throughout this competition by Atkins (a member of the SNC-Lavalin Group), Atkins will not be assessing proposals for funding, but will support Dstl as technical subject matter experts, and they will also support Dstl by gathering and analysing findings from the demonstration event. Any sharing of information with countries outside of the UK will be in accordance with DEFCON 528. It is likely that a larger number of lower-value proposals (for example £40k to £80k ex. VAT) will be funded than a small number of higher-value proposals. We are interested in technologies which can be progressed towards Technical Readiness Level (TRL) 6 within the time scale of this contract.

This competition closes at midday GMT on Thursday 25th March 2021.

We encourage collaboration between organisations for this competition. To support this we have a short survey to collect details of those who wish to explore collaboration possibilities. If you are interested in a collaboration, please complete the survey and your details will be circulated among other potential suppliers who have completed the survey and are interested in collaborating.

1.2 Context and Definitions

Context

This competition supports a MOD project titled Logistics Technology Investigations (LTI), which aims to identify and mature emerging technologies that can deliver a ‘step change’ in Defence Support capability. This ‘step change’ will be defined by improvements in cost, performance and efficiency in delivery of Defence Support.

Defence Support Definition

Defence Support is the sustainment of the ability of military forces to operate effectively at home and in deployed locations overseas. Defence Support includes the storage, transport and delivery of all Classes of Supply (food, fuel, water, defence stores, ammunition, spare parts, etc.), people, equipment and the maintenance and repair of defence equipment. Defence Support is the responsibility of specialists within each of the three services (Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force), with policy and co-ordination provided by the Joint Defence Support Organisation (part of UK Strategic Command). Defence Support is delivered by a combination of military and civilian personnel and can involve support from other nations, particularly when deployed overseas.

Autonomous and Automated Systems Definition

A manual system is designed to be operated by a human operator at all times.

An automated system has been instructed to perform a set of specific tasks or series of tasks within well understood parameters, typically with some level of human supervision.

An autonomous system has the potential to make decisions in its own right, or advise on decisions which should be taken, and may learn and adapt to changes in its environment and task without specific tasking or instruction.^{[footnote 1]}

Additive Manufacturing Definition

Additive manufacturing as defined by International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) and the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) as the “process of joining materials to make parts from 3D model data, usually layer upon layer, as opposed to subtractive manufacturing and formative manufacturing methodologies.” An example of additive manufacturing would be 3D printing.

Deployed Military Logistics Hub

A Deployed Military Logistics Hub is a centre or specific area designated to deal with activities related to transportation, organisation, separation, coordination and distribution of personnel, equipment and materiel. These Deployed Military Logistics Hubs are commonly referred to as Air Ports of Disembarkation (APOD), Sea Ports of Disembarkation (SPOD) and Rail Ports of Disembarkation (RPOD) respectively. Subsequently, items are dispersed by Ground, Air and Sea Lines of Communications by utilising all modes of transport and potentially in the future unmanned systems. In a military context these deployed hubs could be challenging environments with limited facilities, infrastructure and services. It should be noted that the Deployed Military Logistics Hub can be based at sea (e.g. aboard a Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel or Queen Elizabeth Class Carrier) as well as on land.

An APOD is an example of a Logistics Hub, an APOD is: ‘the airport at which the aircraft carrying personnel and/or materiel are off-loaded. APODs function as hubs that link strategic (inter theatre) legs with the operational (intra theatre) legs. The APOD serves as the primary point of entry for deploying personnel, as well as for early entry forces, that will normally be airlifted into the Area of Operation together with their equipment and supplies’.^{[footnote 2]}

When considering the APOD operating environment it should be noted that some APODs could be attached to international air terminals in the destination location, some could be little more than a simple runway with some basic infrastructure. However, demand for throughput will be high and these locations are critical to enabling military operations to occur. The APOD will also be required to prepare for and facilitate regular flights for the duration of the operation, and to maintain the strategic and intra theatre lift assets to enable enhanced availability.

Question 2

2. Competition Scope

Accepted Answer

This competition covers two areas of innovation: autonomy and automation, and additive manufacturing. Proposals which are relevant to either or both of these areas are welcomed.

2.1 Autonomy and Automation

Developments in Autonomy and Automation in recent decades, particularly in sensors and processing capabilities, have led to an increased ability for autonomous and automated systems to operate in a range of challenging environments. Dstl is seeking to understand how developments and innovation in the commercial logistics industry and conceptual thoughts within academia could be exploited to make Defence Support more effective, and enhance efficiency and safety.

2.2 Additive Manufacturing

Defence has increased its understanding of how, where and when to best make use of additive manufacturing capabilities, which has highlighted key challenges that Dstl is seeking to better understand. For instance, generating detailed technical specifications for legacy spares (where three-dimensional digital models are not readily available), and conducting Acceptance Testing of parts in-field or at deployed locations before fitting. The requirement for these capabilities at deployed locations, with constrained availability of space and skilled and qualified people, makes compact and highly automated facilities highly desirable. Deployed additive manufacturing has the potential to be utilised in the Maritime, Land and Air Domains.

2.3 Defence Support User Need

Strategically, Defence Support intend to exploit innovative technologies and approaches more often in the delivery of Support Advantage. There are many aspects of a Deployed Military Logistics Hub that could be improved through autonomous and automated systems.

Submissions should explain how the proposed solution addresses a Defence Support user need for logistic support at a Deployed Military Logistics Hub. The user needs below represent the high level aims, which lead to the examples in the next section. They set the scene for the competition, but are not constraints.

In the area of	There is a need to
Material Handling (including Picking and Packing, Loading/Unloading and Cross-Docking)	- reduce the requirement for humans to be involved - have real-time data view and situational awareness - increase reliability and speed for loading/unloading - reduce the level of cross-docking along the supply chain - have more efficient and effective use of available vehicles and equipment - ensure materiel/stock is available at the point of need - reduce the material handling cost - move to dispersed resupply locations
Demand Planning and Data Collection	- receive what you need at the right time and in the right place - have a simplified set of demand processes and priorities - predict demand accurately for both requirement and location - view a real time picture of stocks - pre-empt demand signal before user requires it - enable modelling of wider demand signal to inform industry - allow for scrutiny and governance of the supply chain - reduce stockpiles with remaining stock held/made in the correct locations - reduce the number of redundant moves
Storage and Warehousing	- increase the speed and flexibility for distribution - improve simplicity in how things are stored and moved for the user - reduce the equipment and personnel required for effective storage
Disposal	- improve decision-making around disposal, salvage, return and refurbishment - sort waste and recyclate material into separate streams depending upon future processing intent - track types of items to enable consumption/waste monitoring and sorting during disposal - turn waste into raw materials that can feed additive manufacturing facilities, other waste recovery processes, or be used to generate power locally

Question 3

3. Competition Challenge

Accepted Answer

This competition is open to any innovative autonomy and automation technologies that offer a step change in the efficiency, effectiveness or sustainability of Defence Support for a future Deployed Military Logistics Hub. This can address any challenge facing the Defence Support community, such as the user needs outlined above or the technology concept areas in section 3.1.

Support Efficiency

Support activities can be time-consuming and resource intensive. Using armed forces personnel for these tasks could represent a missed opportunity for improved operational effectiveness, if these personnel could be better deployed elsewhere. For example:

the challenges and constraints of establishing a storage facility in theatre can lead to considerable resource demands on Armed Forces personnel to set up and run the facility
there is often a need for time-consuming (and potentially error-inducing) unloading / unpacking / repacking / reloading when consignments flow through both the forward and reverse supply chains

Support Effectiveness

Autonomous and automated systems could have the potential to improve the effectiveness of Defence Support, for example:

large bases can experience issues and delays if the right items are not available promptly at the point of need
autonomous last-mile resupply platforms, which are currently being addressed in other projects ^{[footnote 3]} , will need to be loaded and unloaded at the distribution node prior to onward distribution
items are frequently stored in a dispersed manner across military sites, in storage facilities which do not necessarily monitor the environmental conditions (heat, humidity, vibration) or consumption of items

The use of deployed and distributed additive manufacturing techniques (such as 3D printing) have the potential to reduce the cost, complexity and lead times of spares holdings. Although there is significant research in the civil domain to understand and apply these techniques, there are several defence specific blockers (see example 6) to the application of 3D printing in a Deployed Military Logistics Hub that could be addressed through automation.

Support Sustainability

Waste materials are an ever-present consequence of military operations, which must be disposed of locally, or sent back through the reverse supply chain. While some classes of valuable or sensitive materials are already collected separately on large deployed bases, most materials are treated as general waste, with the associated environmental and/or disposal cost.

3.1 Technology Concepts

This section provides some examples of technology concepts that we are interested in, but we equally welcome proposals addressing other aspects of Deployed Military Logistics Hubs.

Example 1a: Autonomous Airfield Ground Equipment

This could include, but is not limited to, increasing the level of automation for:

runway inspection / clearance (e.g. for Foreign Objects / Debris (FOD))
loading / unloading of transportation between different assets, including cross loading
splitting out consignments, packing and configuring loads
fuelling / cleaning / de-icing
aircraft towing
passenger and hub personnel assistance and management, including on-site transport and embarkation / disembarkation

The increase of available data from greater automation of these activities would also enable increased automation in the planning and organisation of airfield support activities.

Example 1b: Autonomous Base Distribution

An automated distribution system could be capable of:

securely transporting a variety of items from point to point
planning and implementing the distribution route through the environment autonomously, responding appropriately to environmental changes and obstacles

This could be further extended by using intelligent algorithms to optimise the allocation of distribution assets to distribution tasks based on priority and efficiency.

Example 2a: Deployable Automated Stores

An automated stores system that could be capable of:

providing secure physical protection to their contents during transport and operation
logging items dispensed, providing a means to monitor consumption

Example 2b: Automated Materiel Handling Interface for Autonomous Platforms

An example system could be capable of:

automatically interfacing with autonomous vehicles (air or ground) to issue / retrieve items
automatically interfacing with automated stores (e.g. Example 2a), or being an integrated part of automated stores
automatically handling standard item packaging (e.g. Example 3)
automatically logging items being passed through the interface to improve asset tracking

While this competition is considering automated material handling interfaces for autonomous air or ground vehicles operating at a Deployed Military Logistics Hub; once in service this could be extended to other single service requirements, such as maritime unmanned vehicles and/or conventional platforms.

Example 3: Smart Modular Storage and Transportation Containers

The system could consist of a set of storage containers, which are capable of:

nesting inside larger containers in a predefined manner.
being handled by automated systems (e.g. Example 2b)
being uniquely digitally identified, enabling them to be tracked throughout the support network
providing physical and security protection to their contents
monitoring relevant environmental parameters such as vibration, shock and temperature when in use

The system is envisioned for use in joint logistics, predominantly into the Land environment, being used across all distribution modes in the coupling bridge. With careful design (and potentially cross-challenge collaborative proposals), the storage containers could be compatible with Example 2, enabling end-to-end bi-directional use.

Example 4: Long Range Environmental and Consumption Monitoring

The system could be capable of:

monitoring the environment (e.g. shock, temperature and humidity), and consumption, of items
operating at range across a base
operating with minimal power consumption

Example 5: Automated Recyclate and Waste Processing

This could include, but is not limited to, separating waste into categories for:

refurbishable or high value recyclable items
additive manufacturing feedstock
fuel for heat / power generation
aggregate for infrastructure construction
the system could enable automated sorting and separation of material for productive reuse / recycling

The system could be capable of:

sorting waste (to an appropriate level of purity) into useful categories, which could include the examples above
gathering data on waste produced, including any identifiable tags or markings (e.g. part numbers, NATO Stock Numbers (NSNs) or serial numbers) - this creates an opportunity to gather better data to track consumption (based on waste produced) and enhance decision support for waste management

Example 6: Automation for Deployed Additive Manufacturing

There are several defence specific blockers to the application of 3D printing in a Deployed Military Logistics Hub and this competition is looking specifically to use automation to solve some of these blockers to additive manufacturing for logistics.

The following example technologies could help to overcome these blockers:

using scanning methods and digitised engineering knowledge to automate development of detailed physical specifications for components
automated feature identification to help decide which parts can be made using additive manufacturing
automated modification of part designs based on the limitations of additive manufacturing
improving access to part data where data transfer is limited
compact, deployable and highly automated testing for certification
component test methods including post manufacture and in situ techniques
statistical tools to use simple tests to certify more critical components

Please note: the project is not seeking simply to purchase additive manufacturing equipment through this DASA call. Instead, proposals are sought that undertake small scale specific interventions to meet these challenges.

3.2 Autonomous and Automated Systems Integration with Defence Infrastructure

Assuming the outcome of this DASA competition is successful and leads to future military user requirements; once in service, autonomous and automated systems will need to be integrated with the broader defence infrastructure. Of particular relevance will be the needs to integrate with:

MOD data management systems; e.g. for command and control, inventory data exchange, and/or alarms and alerts
military secure communications systems (bandwidth may be constrained and/or intermittent)
MOD open architectures
MOD transport fleet and cargo handling equipment (commonly carrying NATO pallets and 20 foot ISO containers etc.)
deployed Military Logistics Hub infrastructure (e.g. constrained power and shelter)

All proposed solutions must retain the ability for an operator to take manual control when required.

While it is not necessary for these to be demonstrated in the current competition, suppliers may wish to consider could be achieved in the future.

3.3 Clarification of What We Want

We are open to, and encourage, innovative approaches. Suppliers may submit multiple separate proposals for different solutions, but must make it clear where there are interdependencies across solutions and what the financial and capability benefits would be for funding multiple interdependent proposals.

Supplier proposals must include evidence of:

a clear, costed outline plan to produce a demonstrable solution
how the solution would be demonstrated at a MOD hosted event
a description of how the solution would be employed by end users within the context of a Future Deployed Military Logistics Hub as described in Section 2.2
how the solution’s anticipated benefits (for example, in cost, time, improved capability) will deliver a step change in capability for the Defence Support community, specifically aiming towards one or more of the following targets:
- improving delivery of a Defence Support capability
- achieving or supporting a strategic defence objective ^{[footnote 4]}
- delivering a cost saving to defence that is more than the implementation cost.

To enhance their proposals, suppliers may wish to include evidence of:

whether or how the solution has potential for integration with other technology concepts
consideration of the through-life user / workforce implications of the solution, including cultural and behavioural impacts, from concept through to disposal
consideration of the data / information systems implications of the solution
whether / how the proposed solution has potential (with further development where applicable) to be exploited more broadly in the Maritime, Land and Air domains (Section 4)
consideration of how the solution may be environmentally responsible in alignment with the UK Government’s Net Zero 50 ^{[footnote 5]} target for reduction of emissions and Sustainable MOD Strategy ^{[footnote 6]}

We are interested in technologies which can be progressed towards TRL 6 within the time scale of this contract.

3.4 Clarification of What We Don’t Want

For this competition we are not interested in:

solutions which cannot articulate a step-change in support capability
consultancy, paper-based studies, market surveys or literature reviews
projects which purely conduct data science / analytics
PhD proposals
fully manual / remotely controlled systems with no form of automated / autonomous control
systems and technologies which are likely to come with a significant maintenance burden
projects using military working animals
projects that cannot demonstrate feasibility within the timescales
any use of unmanned aircraft systems not complying with Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and Military Aviation Authority (MAA) regulations.
projects that simply demonstrate or purchase existing equipment or off-the shelf products, without undertaking further development of technology or techniques to meet the challenges proposed (unless applied to this challenge in a novel way)
identical resubmission of a previous bid to DASA or MOD without modification
projects that offer no viable long-term prospect of integration into defence and security capabilities
projects that offer no real prospect of out-competing existing technological solutions
projects which are already being developed elsewhere within UK defence, for example:
- off-base self-driving vehicles
- new food/water sources
- provision of medical care

Question 4

4. Exploitation

Accepted Answer

The competition will offer opportunities for successful suppliers to engage with military users, and will explore the potential application of innovative technologies for the UK Defence Support community. If successful in this competition you will:

expose your technologies and capabilities to a broad range of military users in MOD (and potentially allied nations); in order to inform future military user requirements
get feedback from Armed Forces end users and MOD Subject Matter Experts on the military utility of your systems and technologies
gain understanding of potential MOD requirements for this capability
have the opportunity to inform and influence the way British Armed Forces are supported in the future
have the opportunity to network and collaborate with other suppliers

It is important that over the lifetime of DASA competitions, ideas are matured and accelerated towards adoption by appropriate end users to enhance capability. Therefore, all proposals to DASA should articulate the expected development in technology maturity of the proposed solution over the lifetime of the contract and how this relates to improved operational capability against the current known (or presumed) baseline. Your deliverables should evidence these aspects and make it as easy as possible to identify the innovative elements of your proposal in order to consider routes for exploitation. DASA Innovation Partners are available to support you with Defence Support context.

You may wish to include some of the following information, where known, to help the assessors understand your exploitation plans:

the intended end users of your final product and whether you have previously engaged with them, their procurement arm or their research and development arm
awareness of, and alignment to, any existing end user procurement programmes
the anticipated benefits (for example, in cost, time, improved capability) that your solution will provide to the user
whether it is likely to be a standalone product or integrated with other technologies or platforms
expected additional work required beyond the end of the contract to develop an operationally deployable commercial product (for example, “scaling up” for manufacture, cyber security, integration with existing technologies, environmental operating conditions, regulation and legislation compliance, support solution development)
additional future applications and wider markets for exploitation
wider collaborations and networks you have already developed or any additional relationships you see as a requirement to support exploitation
how your product could be tested in a representative military environment at a later stage
any legal, ethical, commercial or regulatory considerations for exploitation

Longer term studies may not be able to articulate exploitation in great detail, but it should always be clear that there is some credible advantage to be gained from the technology development.

Question 5

5. How to Apply

Accepted Answer

Proposals for funding to meet these challenges must be submitted by Thursday 25th March at midday GMT via the DASA submission service for which you will be required to register.

The total funding available for this competition is £800k. It is most likely that a larger number of lower-value proposals (for example £40k to £80k ex. VAT) will be funded than a small number of higher-value proposals. If successful, contracts will be awarded for a maximum duration of 21 weeks.

Additional funding for further phases to increase TRL may be available. Any further phases will be open to applications from all suppliers and not just those that submitted Phase 1 successful bids.

Further guidance on submitting a proposal is available on the DASA website.

5.1 What your proposal must include

The proposal should focus on the competition scope and challenge outlined above, but must also include a brief (uncosted) outline of the next stages of work required for exploitation.

When submitting a proposal, you must complete all sections of the online form, including an appropriate level of technical information to allow assessment of the bid and a completed finances section. Completed proposals must comply with the financial rules set for this competition. The upper-limit for this competition is £800k, proposals will be rejected if the financial cost exceeds this capped level. It is most likely that a larger number of lower-value proposals (for example £40k to £80k ex. VAT) will be funded than a small number of higher-value proposals. You must include a list of other current or recent government funding you may have received in this area if appropriate, making it clear how this proposal differs from this work.

A project plan with clear milestones and deliverables must be provided. Deliverables must be well defined and designed to provide evidence of progress against the project plan and the end-point for this phase; they must include:

attendance at a kick-off meeting, regular reviews with the appointed Technical Partnering and Project Management team (which could include Dstl’s industry partner, Atkins) and written progress updates
- all meetings will be in the UK or online
- discussion will likely include key elements, assumptions, dependencies, and human factors of the proposed solution; with exploration of the potential costs, benefits and achievability of the supplier’s approach to meeting a Defence Support user need; and the supplier’s vision for future development and end-user exploitation
participation in an end-of-project demonstration event in September 2021 (COVID-19 allowing), where you will be expected to provide a brief presentation on your solution and a practical demonstration
- suppliers’ demonstrations must include, but are not limited to, demonstrating the benefits of your solution to meet a Defence Support user need, and the current maturity of your solution
- where a physical demonstration is not possible this should be clearly articulated in the proposal and an alternative outlined (e.g. virtual demonstration or presentation of data)
- the demonstration event is expected to be one week in duration, further details will be provided to suppliers nearer to the event
a final report which will include, but is not limited to, the following information:
- description of the entire work performed under the contract in sufficient detail to explain comprehensively the work undertaken and results achieved including all relevant technical details of any hardware, software, process or system developed there under
- technical detail
- explanation of how the solution will deliver or has the potential to deliver a step-change in Defence Support
- details of any additional work or resources required in order to bring the solution into service and support it through life
- explanation of where the solution could be applied across the various military domains in the future

Your proposal must demonstrate how you will complete all activities/services and provide all deliverables within the competition timescales (21 weeks). Proposals with any deliverables (including final report) outside the competition timeline will be rejected as non-compliant.

A resourcing plan must also be provided that identifies, where possible, the nationalities of those proposed research workers that you intend working on this project. In the event of proposals being recommended for funding, DASA reserves the right to undertake due diligence checks including the clearance of proposed research workers. Please note that this process will take as long as necessary and could take up to 6 weeks in some cases for non-UK nationals.

You must identify any ethical / legal / regulatory factors within your proposal and how the associated risks will be managed, including break points in the project if approvals are not received. MODREC approvals can take up to 5 months, therefore, due to the short duration of contracts we are unable to accept any proposals which require MODREC approval. If MODREC approval is required in order for your solution, we would encourage you to consider alternative methods of demonstration. If you are unsure if your proposal will need to apply for MODREC approval, then please contact DASA for further guidance.

Requirements for access to Government Furnished Assets (GFA), for example, information, equipment, materials and facilities, should be included in your proposal. DASA cannot guarantee that GFA will be available.

Failure to provide any of the above listed will automatically render your proposal non-compliant.

5.2 Cyber Risk Assessment

This competition has a cyber risk level of ‘very low’, however suppliers must submit a Supplier Assurance Questionnaire (SAQ) on the Supplier Cyber Protection Portal. The SAQ allows suppliers to demonstrate compliance with the specified risk level and the corresponding profile in Def Stan 05-138, the levels of controls required will depend on this risk level. Suppliers should create an account in the Supplier Cyber Protection Portal if they do not already have one, and will be able to find the corresponding SAQ to the requirement by searching the Risk Assessment Reference (RAR) for this competition: RAR-MJ685NAD. Further guidance can be found at: DCPP: Cyber Security Model industry buyer and supplier guide.

Suppliers must complete the SAQ prior to competition close at midday GMT on Thursday 25th March 2021. You must enter the SAQ reference number within the DASA submission service portal when you submit your proposal.

5.3 Public Facing Information

When submitting your proposal, you will be required to include a proposal title and a short abstract. The title and abstract you provide will be used by DASA, and other government departments, to describe the project and its intended outcomes and benefits. It will be used for inclusion at DASA events in relation to this competition and included in documentation such as brochures. The proposal title will also be published in the DASA transparency data on GOV.UK, along with your company name, the amount of funding, and the start and end dates of your contract.

If you choose to complete the Supplier collaboration survey, please be aware that all of the information you submit in the survey will be provided to other Suppliers who also complete the survey.

5.4 How Your Proposal Will Be Assessed

At Stage 1, all proposals will be checked for compliance with the competition document and may be rejected before full assessment if they do not comply. Only proposals which demonstrate compliance against the competition scope and DASA mandatory criteria, detailed below, will be taken forward to full assessment. Failure to achieve full compliance against Stage 1 will render your proposal non-compliant and will not be considered any further:

Mandatory Criteria

The proposal outlines how it meets the scope of the competition	Within scope (Pass) / Out of scope (Fail)
The proposal fully explains in all three sections of the DASA submission service how it meets the DASA criteria	Pass / Fail
The proposal clearly details a financial plan, a project plan and a resourcing plan to complete the work proposed	Pass / Fail
The proposal confirms that MODREC is not required	Pass / Fail
The proposal identifies any GFA required	Pass / Fail
The proposal does not exceed funding limit of £800K (ex. VAT)	Pass / Fail
The proposal demonstrates how all research and development activities/services (including delivery of the final report) will be completed within 21 weeks of award of contract (or less)	Pass / Fail
The bidder has obtained the authority to provide unqualified acceptance of the terms and conditions of the Contract	Pass / Fail
The bidder has submitted a Supplier Assurance Questionnaire (SAQ) – See Section 5.2 above	Pass / Fail

Proposals that pass Stage 1 will then be assessed against the standard DASA assessment criteria (Desirability, Feasibility and Viability) by subject matter experts from the MOD (including Dstl), other government departments and front-line military commands. You will not have the opportunity to respond to assessors comments.

DASA reserves the right to disclose on a confidential basis any information it receives from bidders during the procurement process (including information identified by the bidder as Commercially Sensitive Information in accordance with the provisions of this competition) to any third party engaged by DASA for the specific purpose of evaluating or assisting DASA in the evaluation of the bidder’s proposal. In providing such information the bidder consents to such disclosure. Appropriate confidentiality agreements will be put in place.

Further guidance on how your proposal is assessed is available on the DASA website.

After assessment, proposals will be discussed internally at a Decision Conference where, based on the assessments, budget and wider strategic considerations, a decision will be made on the proposals that are recommended for funding.

Proposals that are unsuccessful will receive brief feedback after the Decision Conference.

5.5 Things you should know about DASA contracts

Please read the DASA terms and conditions which contain important information for suppliers. For this competition we will be using the Innovation Standard Contract (ISC), links to the contract here: Terms and Schedules. We will require unqualified acceptance of the terms and conditions, therefore if applicable please ensure your commercial department have provided their acceptance. For the avoidance of any doubt, for this Themed Competition we are NOT using the DASA Short Form Contract (SFC).

Funded projects will be allocated a Project Manager (to run the project) and a Technical Partner (as a technical point of contact). In addition, the DASA team will work with you to support delivery and exploitation including where appropriate introductions to end-users and business support to help SMEs develop their business.

DASA also collects information from projects after the project has concluded and you should expect to be contacted once your project has completed for measurement purposes.

We will use deliverables from DASA contracts in accordance with our rights detailed in the contract terms and conditions.

For this phase/competition, £800k (ex. VAT) is currently available to fund proposals. There may be occasions where additional funding from other funding lines may subsequently become available to allow us to revisit those proposals deemed suitable for funding, but where limitations on funding at the time prevented DASA from awarding a subsequent contract. In such situations, DASA reserves the right to keep such proposals in reserve. In the event that additional funding subsequently becomes available, DASA may ask whether you would still be prepared to undertake the work outlined in your proposal under the same terms.

Question 6

6. Dates

Accepted Answer

Competition Launch Event (Online)	Thursday 11th February 2021
Pre bookable 1-1 telecom sessions	Tuesday 23rd February 2021
Competition closes	Thursday 25th March 2021 at midday GMT
Feedback release	Friday 21st May 2021
Contracting	Aim to start May 2021 and end in October 2021
Demonstration Event	September 2021

6.1 Supporting events

Thursday 11 February 2021 – A dial-in session providing further detail on the problem space and a chance to ask questions in an open forum. If you would like to participate, please register on the Eventbrite page.

Tuesday 23 February 2021 – A series of 15 minute one-to-one teleconference sessions, giving you the opportunity to ask specific questions. If you would like to participate, please register on the Eventbrite page.

Wednesday 24 February 2021 – An additional series of 15 minute one-to-one teleconference sessions, giving you the opportunity to ask specific questions. If you would like to participate, please register on the Eventbrite page.

Question 7

7. Help

Accepted Answer

Competition queries including on process, application, commercial, technical and intellectual property aspects should be sent to accelerator@dstl.gov.uk, quoting the competition title. If you wish to be added to the campaign on ECS please email a request into the accelerator inbox, this will ensure you receive future updates on this competition.

While all reasonable efforts will be made to answer queries, DASA reserves the right to impose management controls if volumes of queries restrict fair access of information to all potential suppliers.

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