LOCATIONS
29 Aug 06. Boeing named Nagpur city, located in the State of Maharashtra in central India, as the location for its planned regional maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) facility. Boeing agreed to establish an MRO facility and provide training as part of a 68-airplane order placed by Air India in December 2005. It is the largest commercial airplane order in India’s civil aviation history, and it includes a combination of 777s, 787s and 737s that the operator will use for renewal and expansion of its all-Boeing fleet.
29 Aug 06. General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada is opening a Support Services facility in Edmonton, Alberta, to support the Canadian Forces fleet of light armoured vehicles (LAV). When the facility reaches full capacity it will employ 100 personnel performing primarily repair, retrofit and modification activities. The Edmonton facility will allow General Dynamics Land Systems – Canada to provide a closer level of support to the Canadian Forces, where a significant portion of their fleet of light armoured vehicles is based. Repair and retrofit activities for LAV III armoured personnel carriers as well as re-role activities for the Bison fleet of LAVs will be performed in this facility.
24 Aug 06. Boeing announced that it will compete aggressively for the continuation of significant U.S. Air Force support programs in Texas when it submits proposals for maintenance, repair, overhaul and logistics program contracts for KC-135 and KC-10 aircraft later this year. The work, currently performed by Boeing in San Antonio, would continue under the KC-135 Programmed Depot Maintenance (PDM) and the KC-10 Contractor Logistics Support (CLS) contracts that are both being re-competed this year. Although Boeing is the incumbent and performing very well on both programs, the company is taking nothing for granted.
Aug 06. Mine Countermeasures (MCM) Squadrons: Reorganisation. The repositioning of the remaining MCM vessels has been completed, with HMS BANGOR having sailed from Portsmouth to Faslane and HMS BROCKELSBY having completed the reverse journey. The eight Sandown Class ships now form the 1st MCM Squadron (MCM 1) at Faslane. The 2nd MCM Squadron (MCM 2) consists of eight Hunt Class, based at Portsmouth.
Comment: MCM 1 is also known as The Scottish Squadron, with the ships displaying a distinctive Lion Rampant on their funnels. (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 0633, 04 Sep 06)
Aug 06. Landing Ships (Logistic) (LSL): End of Service. RFA Sir Galahad made her final voyage under the RFA flag into Portsmouth Harbour on 20 Jul 06. Warship World (September/October 2006) reports that the LSL may replace HMS BRISTOL as the Whale Island harbour training ship. Meanwhile Sir Galahad and Sir Tristram can be seen at Portsmouth. RFA Sir Percivale has been taken off the sales list at Southampton and towed to Marchwood, where she is expected to be offered for scrap.
Comment: The rebuilt Sir Bedivere is the only LSL remaining in service. The replacement vessels are the four Bay Class Landing Ships Dock (Auxiliary) (LSD(A)). (Source: DNA DEFENCE NEWS ANALYSIS, Issue 0633, 04 Sep 06)
29 Aug 06. DOD Office of Transformation to shutter. The Pentagon’s Office of Force Transformation, created in 2001 as a think tank agency to shepherd how the services and agencies thought about transforming, will
officially shut down Oct. 1. The mission areas of OFT, however, will not go away. Instead, they will be divided into two parts and spread out across the Defense Department. The analysis and studies portions will go to the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Policy, while the initiatives part will fall under a new office to be headed by John Young, deputy undersecretary of Defense for acquisition and technology, officials said. Defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld established OFT after the 2001 Quadrennial Defense Review. Prior to news of the disestablishment, the office reported directly to Rumsfeld and to Gordon Eng