Indeed, what will the T6 Sqn become if 72 run on Tucano until 2019/20?
The UK Ministry of Defence (UKMOD) intends to place a contract single source for Tucano In Service Support with Babcock Aerospace Limited for a period of 1 year from 1.4.2016. The UKMOD considers it can do this under regulation 16(1)(a)(ii) of the Defence and Security Public Contracts Regulations 2011 (Article 28(1)(e) of Directive 2009/81/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council) for technical reasons because Babcock is the only company with the necessary skills, knowledge and expertise in Tucano to meet the UKMOD's requirement and in the time scales it requires. To place the contract with another supplier for an ageing aircraft with an Out of Service Date of 31.10.2019 without the requisite level of knowledge would result in an unacceptable safety risk in the operation of the aircraft and, thereby, unacceptably compromising its operation.