AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, has been awarded a £300 million pound five year contract for the future support of the UK MoD’s fleet of Sea King Helicopters. Westland Helicopters Ltd, as Prime contractor, has teamed with BAE Systems Avionics and Thales UK to form a new industrial partnership to secure the long term future support provided to Sea King aircraft.
Known as Sea King Integrated Operational Support (SKIOS), this concept provides the MOD with guaranteed levels of availability of support, a more integrated support service based upon guaranteed availability of equipment and technical services and aligns the industrial support infrastructure with the needs of the Operational Customer.
SKIOS marks the first implementation under the new joint commitment by the MoD and AgustaWestland Partnering and Business Transformation agreement.
AgustaWestland, the UK’s only design authority and manufacturer of rotary-wing aircraft will provide Prime Contractor management for their availability services. BAE Systems Avionics and Thales UK have established an avionics alliance for all rotary aircraft and within SKIOS will provide AgustaWestland with a reliable ‘avionics arm’ to deliver a total platform support capability
SKIOS aligns with the UK MOD’s strategic objective to ensure best value in the support of their Sea King Helicopters and, by saving on the cost of technical support and spares, more funding is made available for re-investment in new and improved equipment. Also, the move into a SKIOS solution assists AgustaWestland’s transformation into a Total Capability provider and heralds a new approach to the provision of military support contracts.
The Sea King has been operational for 30 years, with various upgrades and airframe improvements throughout this period. They are currently due to remain in service until 2018 and will continue to play a key part in Britain’s defence and Search and Rescue infrastructure. The Sea King fleet comprises seven different marks of aircraft, flying a wide variety of missions in a number of roles including Search and Rescue (SAR), Airborne Early Warning (AEW) and amphibious troop transport.
Commenting on the contract award, Westland Helicopters Managing Director – Alan Johnston said “This represents a significant milestone in the provision of partnered support, with the Defence Logistics Organisation, Industry and the Armed Forces all benefiting from the new arrangement. SKIOS firmly places responsibility and shared risk with industry to provide services to assist the Front Line Operators in producing operational helicopters, fit for role, in a timely fashion. SKIOS is expected to become a benchmark for future support concepts, initiatives and policies. The SKIOS team is well qualified and ready to meet the challenge”
BACKGROUND NOTES:
AgustaWestland, a Finmeccanica company, is one of the largest helicopter companies in the world. The company offers an unrivaled range of helicopters to satisfy the requirements of civil and military customers. AgustaWestland has its primary operations in Italy, United Kingdom and the United States of America. AgustaWestland employs 9,000 people.
BAE Systems Avionics is one of Europe's leading avionics companies, and the UK' s foremost supplier of electronic systems for military platforms in the air, at sea and on land. With its head office at Basildon in the UK, the Avionics organisation has major sites in southern England and Scotland. The Group employs 4,900 people.
Thales UK’s defence activities encompass optronics, air defence, sensors, avionics, communications and naval systems. The company is the UK’s second largest defence contractor and has been a supplier to the MoD since the First World War. Thales employs 11,000 staff in the UK and 61,500 people in 50 countries. In 2003, Thales UK’s revenues were £1.2bn.
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Agusta Westland Wins Contract to Revolutionise Support for UK Sea King Helicopter Fleet
