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06 Dec 18. The next generation of containers for the Dutch Armed Forces is to be supplied by Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group following the award of contract worth in excess of £100m by the Dutch Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO). The acquisition of the container systems is part of Defensiebrede Vervanging Operationele Wielvoertuigen, or DVOW, which is a major programme to update the Dutch Armed Forces with new vehicles, containers and support equipment.
Marshall will be providing more than 1400 container systems over the next five years. These include command and control shelters, workshops, controlled atmosphere and basic stores units, together with a 14 year fully integrated availability support package. As part of the design work Marshall is providing a new expandable container which uses lighter materials but maintains the strength of its in-service Matrix Expandable products.
“Winning this contract is a major milestone in the strategic development of our Land Systems business and emphasises our capability to manage major programmes which benefits not only Marshall but local suppliers,” said Alistair McPhee, Chief Executive of Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group. “During both the implementation and support phases of this contract we will be working closely with Dutch industry not only as part of the supply chain but also as part of the development of our business across Europe,” added Mr McPhee.
Marshall will be working with a range of suppliers during all stages of the contract and its subsidiary company, Marshall Aerospace Netherlands BV based in Leiden, which will be providing engineering and supply chain management and acting as a focus for the contract. The contract comprises two main elements, the production of the various containers and a full support programme. The latter encompasses a full availability-based fleet management package, ensuring that the units are maintained to the latest standards, together with a significant training commitment.
Marshall has had a presence in the Netherlands since 1995 when it provided command and control shelters. Subsequently it has supported the country’s C-130 fleet, provided ambulances, flat racks, fitted out the Boxer AFV ambulances and, most recently, been contracted to provide an advanced Medevac pallet, which is currently in final development.
07 Dec 18. Russian Helicopters to open MRO centre for Egyptian Air Force. Rostec State Corporation company Russian Helicopters Holding is to open a maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) centre for the Egyptian Air Force’s Mi-8/17 helicopters. Set to be certified next year, the MRO centre has been established at the facilities of Helwan Factory for Developed Industries (HFDI) in Helwan, Egypt.
Rostec international cooperation and regional policy director Viktor Kladov said: “Certification of the helicopter service centre in Egypt opens up new opportunities for expanding cooperation with local partners.”
The Russian firm has plans to initially carry out MRO of the Egyptian Air Force’s Mi-8T and Mi-17-1V helicopters at the new centre.
In future, the company will explore servicing the Mi-17V-5 military transport helicopter.
Installation of necessary MRO related equipment at HFDI was performed by the company over 2015-18.
In addition, Russian Helicopters has offered training to personnel at the Aviation Training Center of Novosibirsk Aircraft Repair Plant.
The new MRO centre has already received readiness status from Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant to provide maintenance and overhaul services.
Russian Helicopters after-sales support deputy director general Igor Chechikov said: “One of the key objectives of JSC ‘Russian Helicopters’ is to organise a system of after-sales support providing first-class service throughout the complete lifecycle of Russian-made rotorcraft. The holding intends to continue expanding its global network of authorised service centres.
“Over the past three years, in cooperation with our partners from HFDI we have performed a tremendous job establishing the MRO centre for Russian-made rotorcraft at the factory’s facilities.
“The Egyptian side is already in process of performing a pilot Mi-8T and Mi-17-1V overhaul upon the results of which we plan to proceed with certification of the centre.”
Produced by Russian Helicopters’ Mil Moscow Helicopter Plant, Mi-8/17 helicopters are designed to transport service personnel. These aircraft also carry cargo and armament, as well as conduct patrol or search-and-rescue operations, medevac and humanitarian missions. (Source: airforce-technology.com)
05 Dec 18. Opening of the CMCO logistics center in Fourchambault. In the frame of the SCORPION program (modernization of the contact combat capabilities of the Army), ARQUUS opens a new logistics center on its Centre de Maintien en Condition Opérationnelle (CMCO – Operational Readiness Center) of Fourchambault (Nièvre, Burgundy). The Direction générale de l’armement (DGA – French DNA), which directs the program on behalf of the Ministry of the Armies, integrated a comprehensive program for service support for all Scorpion equipment and vehicles from the start. This logistics center will be the only center for all parts and spares of both Griffon and Jaguar armored combat vehicles, which will become the main infantry and cavalry vehicles for the Army. It will also become the key center for all spares for most of the 25,000 ARQUUS vehicles currently in service in the French Army.
The opening of this new logistics platform took place on December 7th, 2018, at 10:30 French time, at the CMCO center, 120 quai André Malraux, 58 600 GARCHIZY. It took place under the patronage of Lieutenant General Francis AUTRAN, Central Director of the Structure intégrée du maintien en condition opérationnelle des matériels terrestres (Integrated Structure for the Operationnal Readiness of Land Equipment), and of General François THIEFIN, Deputy officer for Support operations to the Deputy Army Chief of Staff for Plans and Programs.
The plant will service on very short notice all industrial and institutional partners, dispatching parts and spares for the Griffon and Jaguar vehicles developed by ARQUUS, Nexter and Thales. ARQUUS notably produces the drivelines and teleoperated small-caliber weapon systems which will equip both vehicles.
Background elements on Fourchambault’s CMCO Center
The opening of the Centre de Maintien en Condition Opérationnelle (Center for Operational Readiness) is a key moment for Land forces’ operational readiness. It is also a key step for the French Defense, considering the importance of the Scorpion program for the armed forces for 2025.
It is indeed a capital moment for ARQUUS, historical partner of the armies, which accompanies, supports and advises the Land Army throughout its transformations during the last century. Such mutations include the adoption of tanks (Ft-17), cavalry equipment (EBR, ERC), reconnaissance and spotting (AML, VBL).
This historical partnership, which originates from a fruitful symbiosis between ARQUUS, the armies and the DGA (French DNA), currently translates into the development of the Griffon and Jaguar armored vehicles of the Scorpion program (in partnership with Nexter and Thales), designed to equip tomorrow’s land forces and to serve during the decades to come.
To answer this program’s needs, ARQUUS has set innovative support and logistics infrastructures. The new logistics site in Fourchambault enables new modern support solutions, designed to answer major equipment and availability challenges, with the sole objective of serving, with more and more reactivity, as close as possible to the armed forces.
Former center of the 15th BSMAT (15th Land Equipment Support Base), Fourchambault is now a major center for ARQUUS.
Fourchambault is a major production plant for armored cabins for the ARQUUS vehicles.
However, as the name tells, Fourchambault, ARQUUS’ Centre de Maintenance en Condition Opérationnelle (Center for Operational Readiness), is primarily designed to take charge of all Support-related activites for ARQUUS, with more than 150 vehicles directly serviced in 2018 (TRM, VBL, VAB…). It should gradually gear up during the coming years, on all support activities, from on-site maintenance to logistics and spares (so far, VAB and VT4, among others, and tomorrow VBMR and all ARQUUS-supported vehicles, including export).
Expert of Land support, ARQUUS still supports 40-year old fleets. ARQUUS’ policies in terms of obsolescence management and dedicated support currently enable the company to support the French Army’s vehicles throughout their life cycle. ARQUUS firmly commits to supporting the Defense institutions on the long run, to further serve.
A little History:
From 2006 to 2014, Renault Trucks Defense (at the time) progressively took over the infrastructures and missions of the 15e BSMAT (Land Equipment Support Base, since dissolved) in Fourchambault.
ARQUUS also developped Fourchambault’s logistics activites, which will further increase in 2018 (VAB, VT4…but also PLFS, and soon EBRC, VBMR, to mention the current generations’ vehicles). The objective is to service tomorrow all Scorpion-equipped units.
To set that logistics platform, comprehensive investments have been made. Construction work took place from June 2017 to June 2018 and required support from numerous companies and subcontractors from the Nevers region.
That logistics center is now fully operational.
The CMCO center is designed to become the key center for all the logistics activities required by the 25,000 ARQUUS vehicles currently in service in the French Army, most of which are serviced by the company.
ARQUUS currently supports about 20,000 of these vehicles, VAB, VBL, GBC or PVP for today, but also VT4 and, starting in 2019, Griffon and Jaguar (new generation armored vehicles which will be delivered from 2019); last, all export vehicles supported by ARQUUS, in order to better serve all our clients and partners.
The logistics center will contractually service all industrial or institutional partners by delivering spares and parts for EBRC and VBMR vehicles of the Scorpion program.
Last, Fourchambault boasts comprehensive capabilities for industrial maintenance, currently focused on regenerating current-generation tactical vehicles, but which could also serve the programs of the future.
05 Dec 18. Australia Entirely Dependent on US for F-35 Sustainment: ANAO. Australia is entirely dependent on the United States for the sustainment of its Lockheed Martin F-35 fighters, still does not know how much it is paying for the aircraft and its support, but is obliged to pay sustainment bills whether sustainment is delivered or not. These are some of the points made by the Australian National Audit Office in a report published today on the “Joint Strike Fighter — Introduction into Service and Sustainment Planning.” While the 46-page audit is limited to Australia, its conclusions also apply to other non-US operators of the F-35, as they are also dependent on the same Global Support Solution and face the same difficulties in supporting their aircraft. To date, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom already operate F-35 aircraft on their own territory.
ANAO does not report any earth-shaking revelations, it provides interesting insights into how the Global Support Solution (GSS) developed by the F-35 Joint Program Office remains ineffective and incomplete, even as the number of F-35s delivered approaches 350. Yet, while the JPO can withhold payments from contractors if they do not deliver the contracted services, “Australia does not have the option of withholding payment from the F-35 JPO.” In other words, in the F-35 program’s lop-sided rules, the customer must pay even if support services are deficient. We have selected below the most significant points made by ANAO regarding the support of the Royal Australian Air Force’s F-35 aircraft, the first two of which are due to arrive in Australia on Dec. 10 – next Monday. They illustrate how F-35 customers remain in thrall to the United States for all aspects of F-35 sustainment, even as the program’s Global Support Solution remains incomplete, cannot fix a long-standing spare parts shortage, and has seen no progress in the last two years.
Selected excerpts
— Defence informed the ANAO in October 2018 that where contracted performance requirements are not met, the F-35 JPO has the option of withholding payment from the contractor. Defence further advised that Australia does not have the option of withholding payment from the F-35 JPO.
— Defence expects that as ‘the GSS reaches a steady state, the JSF enterprise will be able to capture actual costs, rather than using predicted or forecasted costs that should reduce the likelihood of unexpected cost increases.
— Consequently, Defence’s planning for the implementation of JSF sustainment is dependent on the planning and implementation of the GSS by the F-35 JPO, and the effectiveness of Defence’s provision of sustainment is dependent on the effectiveness of the GSS as a whole.
— An internal review, completed in mid-2018, of Defence’s management controls for transitioning the JSF aircraft into Australian service, identified a lack of confidence within Defence about the global support arrangements in the short term for JSF aircraft based outside of the United States of America.
— Further, Defence noted that the immaturity of the GSS is a JSF Program-wide risk that is being managed by the F-35 JPO. In October 2017, the United States GAO reported on five key sustainment challenges for the United States Department of Defense’s JSF aircraft. Defence’s concerns about the immaturity of the GSS are consistent with the findings of this 2017 United States GAO report.
— To sustain its JSF aircraft, Defence is dependent on a spare parts supply system that is not fully developed, and is currently experiencing shortages due to competition for parts as the global JSF aircraft fleet increases. Defence expects that these shortages will continue beyond the transition of JSF Aircraft into Australian service. Defence has recognised that supply shortages are a risk to the JSF aircraft’s introduction into Australian service, and is largely dependent on the solutions the F-35 JPO is putting in place to increase the availability of spare parts for the global JSF aircraft fleet.
— Defence has some concerns about the security of Australian data within ALIS and has been working with the F-35 JPO to develop a solution. In August 2018, Defence informed the ANAO that an interim solution is now in place to support the ferry of the first two JSF aircraft to Australia in December 2018. In October 2018, Defence further advised the ANAO that ‘this interim solution will remain in place until an acceptable solution can be introduced, prior to Initial Operational Capability’.
— The developmental nature of the international JSF Program means that Defence does not yet know the final purchase price of future Australian JSF aircraft, or their whole-of-life operating and support costs.
— The progress of the Australian JSF Program through second pass approval on the basis of rough-order-of-magnitude sustainment costs is contrary to Defence’s guidance for the planning and approval of major capital equipment projects, the findings and recommendations of numerous external reviews60, and audits undertaken in Defence over the past two decades. The history of Defence acquisitions in Australia demonstrates that inadequate sustainment cost estimates at project approval have led to cost implications once the platform is in service.
In 2016, the United States GAO described sustainment as the most significant cost driver for the program. In 2016, Defence informed the Australian Government that estimated support costs for the JSF aircraft ‘remain high and the economies of scale were not yet evident’, and in November 2018, Defence informed the ANAO that this advice remains current. (Source: defense-aerospace.com)
03 Dec 18. Thales and French Army to boost land forces equipment maintenance.
The French defence ministry and Thales have set up a joint logistic support platform to share best practices for electronic systems support as part of the MCO-Terre1 2025 land forces through-life support transformation plan.
The contract awarded to Thales by the integrated through-life support structure for land forces equipment and systems (SIMMT)2 has been operational since November 2018.
The joint support platform improves workflows and management processes and boosts equipment availability at optimum cost.
1 MCO-Terre: Maintenance en Condition Opérationnelle – Terre
2 SIMMT: Structure Intégrée du Maintien en condition opérationnelle des Matériels Terrestres
The MCO-Terre 2025 through-life support transformation plan is one of the mainstays of efforts by the French Ministry for the Armed Forces to improve the availability of high-value defence systems in increasingly complex environments, in particular by developing innovative digital services. The plan aims to improve support services for hardware, software and security management, and the SIMMT is relying on Thales to help it achieve that goal as part of a strategic partnership signed at the Eurosatory exhibition in June 2018.
At the request of the land forces equipment and systems (SIMMT), Thales and other French industry partners will conduct at least 40% of all maintenance activities. Thales has played a thought leadership role in developing government/industry cooperation on the SIMMT’s MCO-Terre plan with a view to improving system availability, optimising costs, capitalising on the defence ministry’s own resources and sharing knowledge and know-how. The joint support platform is being set up by the land forces industrial maintenance service (SIMTER3) and Thales in order to increase overall performance as the roles of the French armed forces evolve. The platform is located at the 14th equipment support base (BSMAT4) in Nouâtre in Central France.
The ultimate aim of Thales’s strategy of innovation in service provision is to enable customers to make the best decisions at every decisive moment. Automated interconnection of the information systems in service with the defence ministry and its industry partners, and the use of RFID technology to store and retrieve data remotely, provide all stakeholders with a shared, comprehensive view of the overall support chain. The solution saves time, improves traceability and boosts reliability to optimise equipment fleet management.
“With the new organisation and secure access to innovative services, the armed forces are stepping up to the challenges of the digital transformation to offer a customised support solution for operational units. The joint support management platform ensures that high-value systems are available at the right time and in the right place so that the French land forces can conduct their decisive missions effectively and efficiently.” Florence Gourgeon, Thales Vice President for Customer Support and Services activities, Secure Communications & Information Systems.
30 Nov 18. Oshkosh Defense LLC, Oshkosh, Wisconsin, has been awarded a maximum $84,448,463 firm-fixed-price contract for various motor vehicle parts and accessories. This was a sole source acquisition using justification 10 U.S. Code 2304 (c)(1), as stated in Federal Acquisition Regulation 6.302-1. This is a three-year base contract with two one-year option periods. Location of performance is Wisconsin, with a Nov. 29, 2021, performance completion date. Using military services are Army and Marine Corps. Type of appropriation is fiscal 2018, through 2021 defense working capital funds. The contracting activity is the Defense Logistics Agency Land and Maritime, Columbus, Ohio (SPE7LX-19-D-0021).
30 Nov 18. United Technologies Corp., Pratt & Whitney Military Engines, East Hartford, Connecticut, is awarded a $399,778,883 modification to a previously awarded fixed-price-incentive-firm, cost-plus-incentive-fee, cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00019-17-C-0010). This modification provides for performance based logistics sustainment in support of the F-35 Lightning II F135 propulsion system for the U.S Navy; U.S Air Force; U.S. Marine Corps; Non-U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) participants, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers. This modification provides for maintenance of support equipment; common program activities; unique and common base recurring sustainment; repair of repairable; field service representatives; common replenishment spares; conventional take-off and landing/carrier variant F135 unique maintenance services, and short take-off and landing F135 unique services. Work will be performed in East Hartford, Connecticut (73 percent); Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (18 percent); Camari, Italy (3 percent); Eglin Air Force Base (AFB), Florida (2 percent); Edwards AFB, California (1 percent); Hill AFB, Utah (1 percent); Luke AFB, Arizona (1 percent); and Marine Corps Air Station, Beaufort, South Carolina (1 percent), and is expected to be completed in November 2019. Fiscal 2019 operations and maintenance (Air Force, Marine Corps, and Navy), Non-U.S. DOD participants and FMS funds in the amount of $399,778,883 are being obligated on this award, $277,624,046, of which will expire at the end of the current fiscal year. This contract combines purchases for the U.S. Air Force ($142,300,541; 36 percent); U.S. Marine Corps ($109,353,811; 27 percent); U.S. Navy ($25,969,694; 6 percent); non-U.S. DOD participants ($90,987,493; 23 percent); and FMS customers ($31,167,344; 8 percent) under the FMS Program. The Naval Air Systems Command, Patuxent River, Maryland, is the contracting activity.
03 Dec 18. Naval Ship Management awarded contract to sustain Australian LHDs. The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has awarded Naval Ship Management (NSM) Australia, a 50/50 joint venture between engineering group UGL and Babcock, an AUD1.5 bn (USD1.1 bn) contract to support and sustain the Royal Australian Navy’s (RAN’s) two 26,800-tonne Canberra-class landing helicopter dock ships (LHDs) and their 12 associated amphibious landing craft for up to 15 years. The contract is for an initial five years, with the expectation of two further five-year extensions, Babcock announced in a 3 December statement, adding that its share for the first five years amounts to AUD250m. The joint venture, which won the partnering agreement with the ADF in a competitive process, will begin to sustain and support these vessels in July 2019. (Source: Defense News Early Bird/IHS Jane’s)
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About Oshkosh Defense
Oshkosh Defense is a leading provider of tactical wheeled vehicles and life cycle sustainment services. For decades Oshkosh has been mobilizing military and security forces around the globe by offering a full portfolio of heavy, medium, light and highly protected military vehicles to support our customers’ missions. In addition, Oshkosh offers advanced technologies and vehicle components such as TAK-4® independent suspension systems, TerraMax™ unmanned ground vehicle solutions, Command Zone™ integrated control and diagnostics system, and ProPulse® diesel electric and on-board vehicle power solutions, to provide our customers with a technical edge as they fulfill their missions. Every Oshkosh vehicle is backed by a team of defense industry experts and complete range of sustainment and training services to optimize fleet readiness and performance. Oshkosh Defense, LLC is an Oshkosh Corporation company [NYSE: OSK].
To learn more about Oshkosh Defense, please visit us at www.oshkoshdefense.com.
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