Chinnook

Chinook Capability Sustainment Programme

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The first tranche of the £2.8bn Chinook Capability Sustainment programme to deliver 14 new build heavy assault Chinook helicopters remains on course to deliver Initial Operating Capability in 2029 and Full Operating Capability in October 2030.

These new aircraft will significantly enhance long-range lift capabilities for Special Forces. Additionally, training of UK aircrew instructors in the United States began in August 2025, preparing crews ahead of aircraft arrival and frontline integration.

The upgraded Chinooks will feature advanced avionics, extended fuel range, and improved survivability, and are intended to replace the oldest aircraft in the current fleet, ensuring continued operational effectiveness well into the 2040s.

P3C lead consultant has been contracted to establish and Lead the Programme Management Office and to provide support and guidance to the Programme & project Managers. In addition, P3C will conduct a technical review of current working practices to improve Programme delivery, other tasks include:

  • Governance, Cost Control & RAIDO
  • Pan Defence Lines Of Development (DLOD)Programme Management across Front Line Commands (FLCs), Defence Digital (DD) and Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S)
  • Key Stakeholder Engagement, including leading US government Working Groups
Comms

Tactical Communications: Multi Mode Radio

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The MMR Project was a discrete element within the Tactical Systems Service Executive (TacSys SE) Programme. The current MMR fleet of radios were procured under Urgent Operational Requirement project for Op HERRICK in 2008. In total, four different variants of radios were procured.

The MMR project delivered a £200M solution that will replace the four variants and provide an enduring capability to the Land, Air and Maritime environments and, where required, enable backward compatibility to the current equipment in the following areas:

a. Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) / TacSat capability.

b. Tactical Ground to Air (G2A) capability.

c. Tactical Ground to Ground (G2G) capability.

P3C ltd were contracted to lead the £200M project to ensure the successful delivery of these new Tactical Communications systems and support equipment into service.

Specific areas that P3C delivered were:

  • To deliver quantities of up to 700 manpack radios and 500 handheld radios that will meet the MMR performance requirements. 
  • Training needs analysis and development of training materials;
  • Procurement of Ancillaries (for example, antennas, headsets, batteries, pouch/bergen)
  • Integrated Logistical Support, including:
    • Supportability analysis;
    • NATO codification & unique item identification recording and marking (2D barcoding); 
    • Delivery of initial spares package;
    • Packaging, handling, storage & transportation planning;
    • Provision of technical documentation;
  • Project management and governance; and
  • Security, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC), safety and environmental assurance activities.

Airborn Delivery of Rigid Aircraft

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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.

Shadow

Shadow Upgrade Program

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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.
P8

P-8A Poseidon Programme

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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 has been sub-contracted 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 Logistics 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 is 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 the 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.