Army and navy requirements to merge, with 28 twin-engined aircraft to fly from 2010
The Australian Department of Defence is to merge separate army and navy training helicopter requirements into one acquisition, accelerating the replacement of the latter's 12 Eurocopter AS350s by between four and six years.
A draft request for tender (RFT) is to be issued by mid-year for the new requirement, with this to replace the 7A and 7B phases of Canberra's Project Air 9000 co-ordinating structure.
A formal competition will start in the first quarter of 2008, with a formal phase 7 RFT to close in the second quarter and government-funding approvals anticipated in the second half of the same year. Source selection is due in the second quarter of 2009, with contract signature planned for mid-2010.
Details of the project overhaul were confirmed by the DoD during an industry briefing in Canberra on 23 January.
Maj Steve Gale, co-ordinating officer for army aviation in the Australian defence headquarters' capability systems division, says the revised Air 9000 arrangements will see a nominal fleet of 28 twin turbine-powered helicopters fielded, along with synthetic training equipment and a new aviation training ship.
Two aircraft should be in operational service as soon as possible after contract award, says Gale, with 10 to be available by early 2011 and all 28 to be in use by late 2012. The availability of the full training system will complete roll- out by mid-2014 - significantly faster than previously established service targets of between 2010 and 2018.
Gale says studies are continuing on options for a partial public-private partnership (PPP) approach, but that a full PPP framework has already been rejected. Contenders for the new phase 7 project include AgustaWestland, EADS subsidiary Australian Aerospace, Boeing Australia, Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky.
Source: Flight International