Page 145 - Australian Defence Magazine Sep-Oct 2022

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SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT
HELICOPTER SUSTAINMENT 145
tract for the provision of operational and depot maintenance support. The CMS was also included an integrated workforce strategy which incorpo- rates personnel from the Army’s 5th Aviation Regiment.
The existing arrangements were rolled over into what was effectively a through life support for the Army’s CH-47Fs in September 2018, when BDA signed the CH-47 Integrated Support Services (CISS) contract signed with the Capability Acquisi- tion and Sustainment Group (CASG). The CISS essentially consolidates all existing support services into a single contract.
The CISS is a five-year rolling- wave contract, with an annual per- formance review built in where the Commonwealth measures the con- tractor’s performance against a range of standards.
Australian SMEs such as Ferra Engineering and Marand have directly supported Army’s Chinook operations with the manufacture of components which may otherwise resulted in significant downtime, due to the long lead times of US supplied replacement parts.
Ferra has produced complex formers for re- pairs of the rear fuselages of Army CH-47Fs, which have experienced cracking, while Ma- rand has produced some Triple Door compo- nents, part of the area surrounding the Chi- nook’s landing gear.
“BDA WILL AT THE SAME TIME PROVIDE A RANGE OF SUPPORT SERVICES THROUGH A SEVEN- YEAR INITIAL SUPPORT CONTRACT TO DEFENCE”
partners and a chance to discuss their approaches to shared challenges and op- portunities.
The Apache Guardian is already in use in the Indo-Pacific region with India, South Korea and Taiwan, while Japan and Singapore are also operating the old- er AH-64D model. Globally, the AH-64E is also in service with the US Army and the militaries of Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, and the United Kingdom.
The latter company has also part of the CH-47F’s struc- ture known as the Canted Longeron, which is part of the structure around the rear cargo door of the aircraft.
TEAM APACHE
BDA will also be able to leverage the Apache Guardian’s global customer base for Australian sustainment. When Australia’s AH-64Es enter service, the ADF will join the multinational ‘Team Apache’ community. Team Apache provides regular opportunities for meaningful engagement in a range of sustainability and capability forums, giving Australia a voice among its global defence and industry
ABOVE LEFT: An Australian Army CH-47F Chinook at RAAF Base Amberley during Operation Flood Assist 2022
LEFT: A Tiger ARH from the 1st Aviation Regiment prepares to land behind a CH-47F Chinook at the forward arming and refuelling point during Exercise Vigilant Scimitar
ABOVE: Two AH-64 Apache helicopters, from the United States Army’s 6th Cavalry Regiment during Exercise Talisman Sabre 17
Boeing told ADM that its experience with global Apache sustainment also brings with it a Per- formance Based Logistics solution as part of the services provided under the FMS services to support international Apache fleets. Australia’s Apache will be adopting proven, mature, off-the-shelf tools consistent with the FMS offer, and are focussed on continuous improvement and efficien- cies consistent with our maturing understanding of this
platform’s capabilities.
In 2018 the company began integrating new data ana-
lytics tools into all BDA support contracts, enhancing its position as a leading fleet services provider in the region.
The Boeing AnalytX systems, featuring new technologies developed by Boeing in Australia, include a platform-ag- nostic data analytics engine using international and local fleet data to provide predictive maintenance insights.
This has the potential to realise savings in through life support, through initiatives such as predictive mainte- nance and supply chain optimisation.
“It’s about being able to bring the customer’s data into a central location and being able to aggregate it with the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) data and allow us to do the smart data analytics,” Aaron Jones, BDA’s then Business Manager, Emerging Markets told ADM in 2019. ■
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