Defence

AgustaWestland secures major MoD contracts

Posted 29 January 2014

Yeovil-based AgustaWestland has won two major contracts from the MoD worth £760m - to upgrade Merlins and service Apaches helicopters - which will help safeguard British jobs and go some way to alleviating the company's pain following the cancellation of a £455m contract for luxury helicopters by the Indian government.

A £430 million contract will provide maintenance and support for the British Army’s Apache attack helicopter, which is currently used on operations in Afghanistan, for the next five years.

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The additional £330 million investment will see the RAF’s Merlin Mk3/3a helicopters (above) upgraded for use by the Royal Navy’s Commando Helicopter Force.

The expert work will be carried out by AgustaWestland and will sustain as many as 537 jobs within the company. A further 500 jobs will be protected at GE Aviation, General Dynamics, Selex ES and APPH Aviation Services.

While on a visit to AgustaWestland’s factory in Yeovil, the Defence Secretary Philip Hammond met with apprentices who are working at the company and who will play an important role in the work on the helicopters.

During his visit, Mr Hammond said: "The UK defence industry makes an important contribution to the economy, generating revenue of over £22 billion each year, and its highly skilled workforce plays a crucial part in growing our economy.

"This investment will help secure British jobs, providing security to thousands of workers and their families.

"This is also an important step in ensuring our armed forces have the best helicopters available, safeguarding the army’s attack helicopter capability and providing the Royal Navy and Royal Marines with an upgraded, modern Commando Helicopter Force."

The 25 upgraded Merlin helicopters will replace the Sea King Mk4 helicopters, which go out of service in 2016. The work will involve fitting new glass cockpits and avionics, a folding main rotorhead and tail, and an improved undercarriage.

Above: A Royal Navy Merlin helicopter taking part in an exercise over the south of England.

The Merlin's will be used by the Royal Navy’s Commando Helicopter Force to transport cargo and Royal Marines. The Merlin has been in service with the Fleet Air Arm since the late 1990s and, after thorough testing and evaluation, the helicopters have been on the front line since 2000.

Above: An Army Air Corps Apache attack helicopter takes off during an exercise on the Barton Stacey Training Area (BSTA) near Winchester.
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The contract for the Apaches will provide operational support for the helicopters for the next five years, ensuring they are able to play a key role post-Afghanistan.

Designed to hunt and destroy tanks, the Apache attack helicopter has significantly improved the Army's operational capability.

The Apache can operate in all weathers, day or night and detect, classify and prioritise up to 256 potential targets in a matter of seconds. It carries a mix of weapons including rockets, Hellfire missiles and a 30mm chain gun.

Daniele Romiti, CEO of AgustaWestland, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded these contracts by the UK Ministry of Defence to convert Merlin helicopters for the Royal Navy and to continue delivering the successful Apache Integrated Operational Support service for the UK’s Attack Helicopter force. The Apache IOS contract will deliver further efficiencies over the next five years, demonstrating our commitment to service excellence while delivering the aircraft availability and capability the Army Air Corps require.

“The MLSP will ensure the Royal Navy Commando Helicopter Force’s capability will be enhanced as a result of the AW101 Merlin’s greater payload, range, speed as well as benefitting from commonality with the Merlin Mk2 platform.”

Philip Hammond said: “Our £760m investment is vital in maintaining both the Apache Attack Helicopter and Merlin helicopter as a first class airpower assets for our Army and Navy for many years to come.

“This contract also demonstrates the strength and importance of the defence industry to the UK economy and how these programmes are supporting 1,000 highly skilled, UK based jobs whilst laying the foundations for long term growth throughout the sector via the supply chain."

Above: Philip Hammond with Daniele Romiti on his visit to AgustaWestland's Yeovil facility.

Merlin Life Sustainment Programme
Work on the £330 million (€400 million) MLSP design and manufacture contract will start immediately with seven interim 'Phase 1' aircraft being delivered to the Royal Navy in 2015 and 2016 and all 25 'Phase 2' standard aircraft being delivered between 2017 and 2020.

As part of the programme 25 Royal Air Force AW101 Merlin Mk.3 and Mk3A helicopters are being transferred to the Royal Navy to replace their fleet of Sea King Mk4 helicopters. The aircraft will undergo conversion at AgustaWestland’s Yeovil facility in the UK and will be based at the nearby Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton.

The seven 'Phase 1' aircraft will provide the Royal Navy with an interim capability between the withdrawal of the Sea King Mk.4 in early 2016 and the Initial Operating Capability (IOC) of the full MLSP configured aircraft being achieved in mid-2018. These seven aircraft will feature several changes for maritime operations including the addition of lashing points, a powered folding main rotor head, undercarriage modifications and additional communications equipment.

The 25 'Phase 2' aircraft will be fully optimised for ship operations and include automatic main rotor blade folding and tail fold. The aircraft will also be fitted with the same cockpit as the Royal Navy’s Merlin Mk.2 aircraft, giving the Merlin fleet a common cockpit featuring five 10” x 8” integrated display units, two touch screen units for controlling the aircraft’s systems and mission equipment, as well as two cursor control devices for cursor control of the tactical displays.

The Merlin Mk4 and Mk4A aircraft will continue to be supported through the existing Integrated Merlin Operational Support (IMOS) contract, which has been in place since 2006 with AgustaWestland as prime contractor.

The MLSP contract will help sustain approximately 175 highly skilled jobs at AgustaWestland and more than 500 jobs in the supply chain, including many with SMEs.

Under the D&M contract AW will also manage a competition to deliver a synthetic whole crew training equipment and infrastructure for the Merlin Mk4/Mk4A, building on its experience of Merlin training and the delivery of the training infrastructure for the AW159 Wildcat.

Apache IOS
The five-year Apache Integrated Operational Support (IOS) contract is valued at approximately £430 million (€510 million) and will continue to provide the Apache AH Mk.1 Attack Helicopter fleet with comprehensive support and maintenance services from 1st April 2014 to 31st March 2019.

Under this second contract Apache IOS prime contractor AgustaWestland will continue to be supported by its industrial partners Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Longbow International and Selex ES to deliver complete spares provisioning, engineering, depth maintenance, repair & overhaul and technical support services for the UK MoD’s fleet of Apache AH Mk1 helicopters.

At Wattisham Airfield, the British Army’s main Apache AH Mk.1 operating base, AgustaWestland will continue to manage the Depth Support Unit and the associated workshops, ensuring the throughput of the facility matches the operational requirements of the Army Air Corps. At Army Aviation Centre Middle Wallop, AgustaWestland will continue to be responsible for the provision of Apache aircraft on the flight line at the School of Army Aviation, delivering the required number of flight hours to match the Army’s training requirements.

The Apache IOS programme office, manned by industry and Ministry of Defence staff, located at AgustaWestland’s Yeovil facility, will continue to manage the IOS contract. The Apache IOS contract will directly sustain around 360 jobs, mainly at Wattisham Airfield, Army Aviation Centre Middle Wallop and AgustaWestland’s Yeovil facility.

The Apache IOS contract will deliver the required levels of aircraft availability whilst reducing through life costs. The contract is output-based, whereby AgustaWestland is incentivised to improve the levels of operational output whilst seeking continuous improvement to reduce through life costs.

The UK Apache AH Mk.1 fleet is fast approaching the 150,000 flying hour milestone and recently more than 40% of annual flying hours have been performed on operations in Afghanistan, providing protection for UK and allied forces.

AgustaWestland also provides support and training services for the UK MoD’s AW159 Wildcat helicopter fleet under the Wildcat Integrated Support and Training (WIST) contract, for the Sea King fleet under the Sea King Integrated Operational Support (SKIOS) contract which continues to the expected out of service date of April 2016 and for the AW101 Merlins under the Integrated Merlin Operational Support (IMOS) contract.