Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to re-compete the Morpheus contract.

As set out in the Written Ministerial Statement dated 14 December 2023, the MORPHEUS Evolve to Open Transition Partner (EvO TP) contract with General Dynamics Missions Systems (UK) (GDMS(UK)), which was focused on evolving the proprietary Bowman system, was concluded in December 2023. The MOD has reached a position where the deliverables are sufficient to enable the future of the MORPHEUS project and the next generation of tactical communications. As Bowman is a proprietary system owned by GDMS(UK), the EvO TP contract cannot be recompeted.

Defence will engage with industry on a renewed basis, incorporating the lessons learned from this procurement and move towards delivering the next generation of tactical communications systems, for the benefit of the whole of Defence.