Engaged by AACE, P3C were contracted to provide asset and inventory management for a range of critical spares to support the Chinook upgrade programme. This included contract agreements, project planning & management, stakeholder liaison, excel data report analysis, and future asset procurement strategies. Our work also considered the evaluation of Internal Business Agreements, contract improvements and the impact of refreshing of procurement strategies in support of a rotary fleet.
One particularly important area was the upgrade of avionic equipment whilst operating in Afghanistan. The Aim was to pre-position all the equipment necessary to carry out the upgrade and ensure that the spares was available at time critical intervals. We were able to achieve this with constant stakeholder engagement and the analysing of all variables to ensure strategic and tactical capability was met. Recognising that this suite of avionic system upgrades required an effective repair cycle, we supported key contract meetings with external partners Boeing & Thales. This enabled us to introduce and implement improved asset visibility which increased performance and output by 35%. The success of this upgrade in an operational environment and those involved which included P3C personnel were recognised in Dispatches.
To support Capability Requirement for Airborne Delivery (AD), in support of endorsed Defence Military Tasks the Hercules C130J Mk4 and C17 required to airdrop the Offshore Raiding Craft forward Console Variant (ORC FCV) from a platform to allow safe extraction from the aircraft when in flight.
Defence required the capability to conduct the AD of specific boat types in support of contingency force requirements. Current in-service Arctic24 and Arctic 28 Rigid Inflatable Boats (RIBs) are aerially delivered through incorporation on to the Platform Universal Rigid Inflatable Boat Aerial Delivery (PURIBAD) system, which is compatible with the floor, load side guidance, and restraint systems of a Hercules C130J Mk4. This enables the RIBs to be extracted from the aircraft and retarded by parachutes to ensure the survivability of the payload.
The ORC FCV was trialed and exceeded the load envelope which is beyond the PURIBAD capabilities, therefore, requires a new AD platform. P3C led this project through an Assessment Phase (AP) to evaluate candidate Off-the-Shelf Airborne Delivery systems for use with the ORC FCV. The AP included a trial of candidate systems to support a down-selection decision, safety assessment, and Release To Service. Proposals were sought from industry for supply of systems and through-life support.
The Fixed Wing Command Support Air Transport (FW CSAT) Fleet was established to support military and government communications tasks in times of crisis and war. It provides a rapid and secure method of transport for key personnel in pursuit of urgent Defence crisis management missions, military operations, or defence diplomacy tasks. Although established for operational reasons, the FW CSAT can support non-operational military tasking (subject to availability and justification). CSAT may be used to support MoD Ministers, senior military officers and, also Royal and Ministerial tasking when a Defensive Aids System (DAS) equipped capability is required. Further spare capacity can be utilised to support logistic and Aeromed tasks, though it is constrained by aircraft capacity and range.
P3C were employed to assist in the procurement of an Availability Contract with a single Contractor via competitive tender. The scope of the Contract was to cover the current engineering & maintenance regime. This Included all Engineering and provision of necessary spares for the airframe, including APU and undercarriage, but excluded engine support. It was important to ensure the scope of work was clear and specific to avoid industry pricing excessive risk into their Tender. The Contract provided a low-value tasking arrangement facility; provision for a Ground Engineer to support the aircraft whilst deployed: and include provision for Sponsored Reserves.
The scope of the project was to deliver the support and sustainment of, and the capacity for capability upgrades too, the Shadow R1 Fleet. The Role of Shadow is through a combination of sensors adds a comprehensive intelligence gathering capability to the ISTAR Force. Its output is particularly valuable to ground commanders.
P3C conducted an initial study within the Concept Phase, conducted to consider a number of high-level potential support solutions before detailed concept work was undertaken. Options that were considered included maintaining the current EASA / CAA construct versus transition to MAOS / Mil Pt 145 under varying degrees of Whole Force Concept mix and prime contracting relationships.
P3C delivered the concept phase covering the following:
- Agree the Contingent Ops ISS in-core requirement for Shadow R1.
- Identify the future onboard air surveillance capabilities to be in service.
- Development of a coherent plan for the integration onto the platform of any air surveillance capability upgrades; ensuring platform support contracts have the capacity to enable the integration of these upgrades.
- Identify both air surveillance and platform obsolescence issues and establish an obsolescence action plan.
- Develop the optimum in-service support solution.
- Agree a plan formally to bring the Shadow R1 fleet into service, identifying any necessary safety or operational modifications as part of this process.
- Agree a coherent plan of platform upgrades.
- Develop the procurement strategy to meet the requirement.
- Develop the Business Case.
P3C integrated into a delivery team within MOD Defence Equipment & Support to lead the management of inventory, procurement, and supply chain to support the C17 Globemaster transport fleet. Being integrated into the team allowed us to build up an excellent relationship with the customer and to fully understand the improvements that were necessary to improve availability of spares globally. As a result, P3C was able to successfully deliver:
- The Co-ordination of the global transportation and import/export of assets with civilian partners producing a cost saving of £1.5m.
- Manage the MoD’s key external partners Boeing, BAE Systems and liaison with engineering authorities to deliver new avionic equipment into service ensuring Through Life Management which represented ‘Value For Money’.
- Utilised continuous improvement techniques, delivering 13% reduction in net owned inventory whilst maintaining first line asset availability.
- Liaison with Commercial partners, chairing meetings and producing business cases for new platform equipment procurements.
P3C was employed to assist in the procurement of an Availability Contract with a single Contractor via competitive tender. The scope of the Contract was to cover the current engineering /maintenance regime. To Include all Engineering and provision of necessary spares for the airframe, including APU and undercarriage, but excludes engines. It was important to ensure the scope of work is clear and specific to avoid industry pricing excessive risk into their Tender. The Contract will provide a low-value tasking arrangement facility; provision for a Ground Engineer to support the aircraft whilst deployed: and include provision for Sponsored Reserves.
The MOD P-8A Poseidon programme comprises of the procurement of 9 Boeing P-8A Poseidon aircraft to be operated by the Royal Air Force. P3C have been sub-contracted in by AACE to scope and deliver various Integrated logistic Support plans that support this capability through life.
Logistics Information Systems (LIS)
Working alongside the P-8A Delivery Team at Abbey wood in Bristol, P3C will establish and maintain integrated logistics applications capable of sustaining fleet management and maintenance; this will ensure visibility of assets, usage data and configuration control, resulting in better planning and reducing costs. It is also considered the function which links a discrete set of technical and supply data sets, to aggregate, analyse, validate and retain information that can be used to influence future Engineering and Logistic decisions.
P3C will develop a LIS Plan which includes the various LIS applications and tools which are required to support P-8A Through Life. The plan is explained in detail by the following Section categories:
- UK P-8A Logistics Information Systems
- Information Systems Data Exchange
- Hardware and Software Requirements
- Training
- Quality Management
- Infrastructure
- Logistics Information Risk Management
- Logistics Information Systems Backup
- Logistics Information Repository
Packaging Handling Storage & Transportation (PHS&T)
The primary aim for UK Defence programmes in relation to PHS&T is to ensure that the full range of PHS&T requirements in support of the P-8A Poseidon fleet are identified, interrelated and not considered in isolation. Identification of specific requirements for items must be achieved to ensure that all information related to both technical and logistical aspects is captured and communicated. This will ensure successful transition of all items throughout the End to End (E2E) supply chain, including the Reverse Supply Chain (RSC).
The PHS&T Plan created by P3C will identify the requirements and planning that will be put in place to ensure that all systems, equipment and support items are preserved, packaged, handled, stored and transported appropriately; ultimately to ensure that they reach the end user in a usable and acceptable state.
Disposal Management
The p-8A Disposal Plan sets a baseline for disposal planning to be developed. It provides a roadmap highlighting the options available to the MOD Disposal Team for removing the UK P-8A aircraft from service, in addition it captures the disposal of surplus materiel, damaged equipment and obsolete components through life. It includes the procedures to be followed if the useful life of the UK P-8A aircraft is curtailed due to an accident or mishap and highlights the key stakeholders that will need to be integrated into the disposal process.
The plan delivered and updated by P3C is a management tool, which will be used by the P-8DT Integrated Logistics Team and Engineering Authority and also shared as required with the Front-Line Command and Industry Stakeholders.
