Page 144 - Australian Defence Magazine Sep-Oct 2022

144 SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT HELICOPTER SUSTAINMENT
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support for Apache as Boeing Defence Australia has suc- cessfully done for the CH-47 Chinook, F/A-18 Super Hor- net, EA-18 Growler and P-8A Poseidon”.
ADM reached out to BDA about their vision of a future Apache sustainment program, even though these are still early days for the project. The company has previously said in its responses to the question is that Australia’s AH-64E fleet will be supported through a mix of Foreign Military Sales (FMS) activities, arranged through government-to- government channels, with local Defence-contracted ar- rangements, to provide maintenance, training, engineering and supply support services.
BDA will at the same time provide a range of support services through a seven-year Initial Support Contract to Defence, with both parties currently working together to identify Australian Industry Capability opportunities as the program is introduced and matures in country.
Its Australian Apache Guardian industry strategy in- cludes developing opportunities for Australian SMEs to de- liver sovereign in-service support for the type. This includes potential synergies with its existing sustainment program for the Army’s CH-47F Chinook heavy lift helicopter and the company is currently investigating these opportunities as the sustainment solutions for Apache develop.
CHINOOK SUSTAINMENT
As ADM has previously reported, Boeing’s involvement in sustainment of the Army’s current Chinook fleet in Austra- lia started when it was contracted to support the introduc- tion of the initial seven CH-47F helicopters in 2014.
The one-year agreement was known as the Delivery and Operational Maintenance Support (DOMS) contract and included a mix of BDA and Boeing personnel who accepted the helicopters along with the Commonwealth, tearing them down and loading them onto transport aircraft for the delivery flights to Townsville.
Once in Australia the helicopters were put together again, with the personnel supporting the New Equipment Training (NET) phase, which included US Army pilots training Army aviators in operating the aircraft.
During this time, BDA personnel also incorporated sev- eral modifications specific to the Australian CH-47F fleet, including installation of ballistic protection blankets, Elec- tronic Location Transponder (ELT), crashworthy pilots’ seats, a Cargo On/Off Loading System (COOLS) and a mount for the Dillon Aerospace M134 minigun.
A similar, albeit shorter, contract followed in 2016 to support the introduction of the three additional helicop- ters delivered under Land 4502 Phase 1. In late 2016 BDA also signed a Chinook Maintenance Support (CMS) con-
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