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Challenger support bid gets go-ahead
September 7th, 2009 | DSEI 2009 | Posted by Andrew Chuter
A long-term support deal aimed at cutting the cost of British Army Challenger main battle tank support by more than 10percent is scheduled to be submitted to the Ministry of Defence by mid-2010 according to BAE Systems.
The company said Sept 7 that the MoD’s Investment Approvals Board has given it approval to submit a bid for Challenger fleet support by the end of this year.
In a statement BAE said the value of the contract could reach more than £500 million over eight years.
The deal, if signed, would cover the British Army’s main battle tank and related engineering, recovery and training fleets.
Rob Pemberton , the program leader at BAE’s Global Combat Systems arm, said that if the bid was successful the company would be “working with the MoD, the Defence Support Group and the industrial supply network to better integrate and plan the way we provide spares and technical support for the Challenger fleet.”
Uncertainties over the future shape of the Challenger fleet could compromise the deal though.
Army commanders, including Gen Richard Dannatt, have recently advocated possible heavy reductions in the size of the main battle tank fleet to better focus budgets on counter insurgency warfare during a time of economic austerity.
Dannatt was the Chief of the General Staff before retiring at the end of August.
The decision date on Challenger is also presently timed for just after a general election.
Both the Labour government and their Conservative rivals are committed to a strategic defense review which is likely to consider the future size and shape of the British military, including the Challenger fleet.
If the deal does get the green light the program would guarantee improved availability of spares and technical support such as vehicle configuration and obsolescence management, said the statement.
BAE said the scheme could be extended to other of its legacy armoured vehicles fleets in service with the British military under a program known as the Armoured Vehicle Support Transformation.
Challenger maintenance, repair and overhaul is presently done by the army itself and the MoD-owned Defence Support Group.
That’s unlikely to change given DSG was placed at the heart of the support element of the MoD’s armoured fighting vehicle strategy wheeled out earlier this year.
Tags: budget, challenger, programatics, tank