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Defence Test and Evaluation Service Future (DTES)(F)
Defence Equipment and Support · Central government
In brief
Defence Equipment and Support has announced plans to buy research work. This is an early notice: there is nothing to bid on yet, but it tells you a tender may follow.
The estimated value is £1 excluding VAT.
The contract runs for 10 years, up to 15 years with extensions, starting 1 April 2033.
The buyer says it is suitable for small and medium-sized businesses.
Built from the notice's own fields. Always check the official notice before you bid.
Can I win this?
Competition
Typical: a median of 3 bids per contract for this buyer (from 15 awards in the last 12 months).
What the notice says
The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has an enduring requirement for the provision of Test and Evaluation (T&E) services. T&E is core to all Defence equipment programmes to ensure the reliability and fitness for purpose of the equipment it uses.
The MOD has established a T&E Transformation Programme which is reviewing how T&E will be delivered in the future and how new, innovative technologies can improve and enhance current capability to enable T&E for military advantage rather than solely for equipment acceptance.
The Transformation Programme is developing a new requirement for the provision of future T&E services and there is an opportunity for Industry to help shape this. The MOD has identified the following potential grouping of T&E services to facilitate a conversation with industry, but this is not exhaustive and will likely evolve because of our engagement:
• Virtual T&E Platform: Common infrastructure, architecture, assets and capabilities required to support modelling and simulation-based T&E.
• Live T&E Platform: Centrally funded estate, range infrastructure and T&E capability to support real world testing and data capture for evaluation and model validation.
• Deployable T&E Platform: Common enablers of T&E capabilities that can be deployed and user-operated anywhere.
How to bid
- Read the full notice on Find a Tender, including any tender documents it links to.
- Register your organisation on the Central Digital Platform (through Find a Tender) if you have not already. Suppliers need to be registered to take part in procurements under the Procurement Act 2023.
- Follow the submission instructions in the notice; it does not name an e-tendering portal.
Timeline
- Preliminary market engagement notice · UK2, notice 001550-2026
About the buyer
Defence Equipment and SupportLast 12 months
Procurements
232Awards
80Suppliers it has used most for research
- Cwaves Limited1 contract
- Link Microtek Ltd UK1 contract
Similar open tenders
All open research tenders- £226kestimated
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- £25kestimated
- £25kestimated
From notice 001550-2026 on Find a Tender, first published 8 January 2026. We last checked for changes on 28 September 2026.