Page 50 - Defence Industry Guide #56 2022

50 PLAN CORELLA
ADM’s Defence Industry Guide 2022 | Edition 56 | www.defencesuppliers.com.au
VALUE ADDING – ARMY’S PLAN CORELLA
Army’s $37 million program of leasing civilian helicopters to mitigate aircrew currency issues caused by the lower than planned availability of its operational helicopter fleet is paying dividends.
NIGEL PITTAWAY | MELBOURNE
TWO Leonardo AW139 medium helicopters have been leased from Toll Helicopters, with full engineering support, and are not only performing well in their designated role but have recently also provided welcome help to flood-af- fected people in south east Queensland and northern NSW.
The helicopters were acquired under the Army Interim Commercial Helicopter (AICH) contract, also known as Plan Corella, following a limited Request For Tender (RFT) re- leased to industry in October 2020. The RFT called for up to three modern, twin-engine, glass cockpit helicopters to serve within B Squadron, 5th Aviation Regiment at Townsville.
While the option of the third helicopter has yet to be tak- en up, Toll signed the AICH contract in February 2021 and the two AW139s became fully operational in October last year, following the training of initial crews at the company’s ACE Training Centre at Bankstown.
AICH CONTRACT
The AICH contract will run to June 2023 with the option of two one-year extensions and will assist Army in managing its currency and workforce in preparation for its transition to the proposed new helicopter types.
“The idea behind it was primarily to provide a fast-track solution for Army crews to continue their professional fly- ing development and professional mastery,” explained Toll Helicopters’ Manager of Defence Aviation Programs John Walker. “The AW139 was chosen because it was the aircraft that most closely resembled a twin-engine medium helicop- ter, with a glass cockpit and advanced autopilot, together with a cabin size and utility and capability that value adds to allow aircrewman training as well.”
Toll has taken a novel approach to the AICH contract, with the helicopters being operated on the civil register un- der CASA regulation when used by company pilots in the training role, but under state regulations when Army pilots are in command. Toll is responsible for initial training and ongoing pilot training on the AW139 and provides the full suite of engineering support for the helicopters, but Army task them as and where required.
“We’re seeing very good serviceability rates and we’re meeting or exceeding all of the expected rate of effort re- quirements,” Walker said.
“AICH answered an immediate requirement of the capa- bility to generate hours for our pilots and aircrewman to ensure currency and proficiency at a time of lower-than- expected availability from our operational fleets,” Director of Aviation Capability Management, Colonel Hayden Ar- chibald detailed.
“The contract was put in place quickly and has more than delivered on its potential. In fact, it has delivered so well, we are keen to explore future opportunities in the commercial aircraft space so that we can focus our combat ready force on the high-end combat missions whilst ensur- ing that we can meet all of Government’s needs for aviation utility support as Army transitions to new platforms in the coming years. The AW139 provides us with these options”.
FLOOD RELIEF WORK
A secondary role for the two AW139s is to provide support for Army and Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) ef- forts and at the time of writing, both helicopters were deployed to the field in support of flood relief work on the east coast.
The helicopters are working alongside Army MRH 90 and CH-47F Chinooks as part of Task Group 629.3 on Operation Flood Assist 2022. The pair are tasked by the aviation desk in
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