Command Support Air Transport Recapitalisation

[RAFEngO74to09]

4 x BAe 146 to be replaced by 2 x biz jets.

The UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) currently operates a military fleet of BAe146 transport aircraft from RAF Northolt that will be withdrawn from service on 31 March 2022.

The CSAT RECAP project aims to replace this capability by adopting a procurement strategy featuring two phases:

1. Phase 1: Competitive procurement of two civil Business Jets to be Accepted by 31 Mar 22 with an in-service support package that will run until 31 March 2024. Six, six-month Option periods (totaling 3 years) will be included in the Contract for continuation of the phase 1 in-service support as required. These aircraft will be owned by the MoD but operated on the Civil Aircraft Register and initially operated by contractor-provided civilian pilots. Phase 1 also includes the training of military pilots and cabin crew and the use of these service personnel to compliment the civilian pilots in the delivery of the service.

2. Phase 2: A separate competitive procurement for the embodiment of military modifications on the aircraft, from 1 April 2024 (subject to take-up of options), and provision of in-service support utilising military personnel in the operation of the aircraft, with an associated transfer of aircraft to the Military Aircraft Register.

The Aircraft will need to achieve a minimum unrefueled range of 3,850nm from an unrestricted airfield transporting up to 8 passengers, 3 crew and associated baggage.

The CSAT Recap Aircraft will be owned by MoD but will be leased back to the Contractor and operated during the period of Phase 1 on the Civil Aircraft Register by the Contractor who will assume all airworthiness responsibility.

CSAT RECAP Phase 1 requires delivery of up to 980 flying hours in the first year ending 31 March 2023 and up to 1200 flying hours in the second year, ending 31 March 2024 from the two Aircraft that are available.

These services are to be available 7 days per week, 365 days per year from the Contractors Operating Base and/or the MOB. CSAT Recap requires delivery of a support arrangement that will incorporate all scheduled and unscheduled maintenance arisings where risk will be appropriately apportioned to ensure that a high level of Aircraft availability can be reasonably achieved.

The solution also requires the Contractor to manage delivery of all Aircraft movements in accordance with tasking from the Authority.

While civilian crews are required to pilot the Aircraft in Phase 1, this phase also includes a requirement to train an initial cadre of RAF pilots and cabin crew to supplement the civilian pilots in delivering the flying hours.

Command Support Air Transport Recapitalisation (CSAT Recap) - Find a Tender (find-tender.service.gov.uk) (https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/027137-2021)

[minigundiplomat]

We’d like the moon on a stick, but we’ve got no money.

[DC10RealMan]

I am sure that for the greater glory of Alexander Boris de pffevel Johnson, the World King the money will be found.

[kiwi grey]

Phase 1 also includes the training of military pilots and cabin crew and the use of these service personnel to compliment the civilian pilots

Are the military pilots and cabin crew expected to do anything other than polish the egos of their civilian counterparts?
:E

[RAFEngO74to09]

Are the military pilots and cabin crew expected to do anything other than polish the egos of their civilian counterparts?
:E

Maintain a capability to fly the aircraft into potentially hostile areas for missions such as:

- Transport for PJHQ Recce Teams planning a deployed operation.

- In-theatre transport for deployed HQ staff (as we had on Op GRANBY).

Hence the "military modifications" mentioned..

[NutLoose]

Now here’s an off the wall idea… bin the range requirement as you probably won’t be flying to Afghanistan any time soon, settle on 1,860 odd miles which will cover most of Europe and buy / lease a pair of civilian variants of the King Air 350 which will be common in spares etc with the Shadows, should be easier to retrofit with secure comms etc as per the Shadow and as they are looking to two extra Shadows add them to that purchase and cheaper than bizjets.…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf_8viJKKZo

[Martin the Martian]

King Airs are nowhere as flashy looking as those big planes with hairdryers either side of the rear fuselage, Nutty. Too much common sense.

[vascodegama]

RAF Eng

I think kiwi is getting at the spelling-compliment vs complement. Unless of course I am reading too much into it.

[ORAC]

3,850nm, is that enough for London to Washington DC with reserves?

[sycamore]

Couple of nice Falcon 7Xs might appease Napolean across the Channel....

[NutLoose]

3,850nm, is that enough for London to Washington DC with reserves?


Or New York to deliver the Prince of Old York to trial? :rolleyes:

[sycamore]

Nutty,as long as the US send that female Intelligence from Croughton agent back to stand trial ...

[RAFEngO74to09]

USAF is getting 2 x new C-37B - Gulfstream 550 - for $159M including military upgrades !

Brown delivers new C-37B to Joint Base Andrews > Air Force Materiel Command > Article Display (af.mil) (https://www.afmc.af.mil/News/Article-Display/Article/2833184/brown-delivers-new-c-37b-to-joint-base-andrews/)

[NutLoose]

Well the Gulfstream would make sense as it has U.K. content in the engines fitted, I just hate to think of how they will screw up its lines with a garish scheme

[Melchett01]

Why am I routinely left with the impression that we want an Air Force in name only given the fascination with contracting out.

[Nil_Drift]

What about all the Global Express jets no longer wanted by V(AC) Sqn since March last year? Take off the bulgy bits and put some old VC10 seats in the back - job's a good 'un and far cheaper!

[NutLoose]

What about all the Global Express jets no longer wanted by V(AC) Sqn since March last year? Take off the bulgy bits and put some old VC10 seats in the back - job's a good 'un and far cheaper!

You could shove the Portakabin VIP fit in the back of a Herc , as they did for Maggie when she went south, oh wait, we’re binning the Hercs as well.

[Davef68]

Does the tender say 'Must be called Gulfstream'?

[NutLoose]

One problem with the Gulfstream is its footprint.

[ancientaviator62]

Maggie hardly used it. She sat on the flight deck most of the way. Denis did though !

[WIDN62]

Maggie hardly used it. She sat on the flight deck most of the way. Denis did though !

Denis was on the flight deck to watch the refuelling!

[ancientaviator62]

I did not fly on Maggies's trip but did some of the 'trials' with the 'VIP' cabin. IIRC it was an ordinary (secondhand ?) touring caravan and there were a few problems. Finding somewhere to attach the chains to it tie it down to meet the regs was one. Another was the tendency for the caravan walls to dance to the tune of the Allison and Hamilton band. Soundproofing of a sort was fitted. Another was the way it got hot inside. On the C130 the heating was supplied via overhead vents and this heated up the caravan. Fans were installed but they were nosy etc.
As for Denis watching the refuel, I never knew a pax who did not if they got the chance. !

[Ascoteer]

3,850nm, is that enough for London to Washington DC with reserves?

Be interesting to dig down into that figure; 3850 miles from an unrestricted airfield. Northolt, especially on 07, is pretty restrictive, especially with 8 pax (near full load on a super-mid)! Plenty of jets have a 'book' figure of 3850, but I don't think that's quite enough to make it to DC in one go.

Don't know if there's any Dassault drivers here, but Falcon 2000LXS book range is about 4000nm...not sure how many pax you could carry. And, of course, there's not a 'standard' DASS fit out there for a Falcon. Eventually you end up with G550, although the production line has stopped now, so you would need to find two similar used examples. Definitely not enough money there for even G400!

[BizJetJock]

Challenger 650 book range is 4000, but even NY is dependent on the winds for getting there non-stop westbound. Washington is probably a 50/50 chance. Back no problem!
Also the issue of Northolt as a base. You're not going to get transatlantic range out of there in a Challenger. A Falcon or a Global probably can, but then you're looking at a lot more capital cost.

[NutLoose]

Here is a modern Herc VIP fit, I assume its palletised.

https://www.airteamimages.com/lockheed-c-130-hercules_A6-MAX_maximus-air-cargo_59377.html

This one is, but appears a bit more basic

https://www.thinkdefence.co.uk/2014/11/military-pallets-boxes-containers-part-6-aircraft-pallets-containers/

[ancientaviator62]

NutLoose,
our 'VIP' fit was nothing like those ! The most we could generally muster (when we took Baroness Chalker to Hargeisa for example) was a few ex Beverley seats and what was then known as the WAAF toilet !

[NutLoose]

More like this?
This is seriously impressive

https://www.sgamf.com/suites.html

https://knightaerospace.com/product/dv-vip-transport-modules/

[sycamore]

We (on 32 Sdn) used to pre-position 125-700s at Heathrow if it was a MAUW trip....

[NutLoose]

VC10's used to as well as the norm. The only ones I can think of offhand that used to fly into Brize were Charles and Diana as it was nearer home.

[Davef68]

And the winner is.......The Falcon 900LX

https://ukdefencejournal.org.uk/britain-purchasing-french-jets-for-vip-transport/?

[MPN11]

So 3,850 miles it is. Refuelling stop westbound at Shannon, like BA did with their Baby Jets from London City to JFK?

[melmothtw]

So 3,850 miles it is. Refuelling stop westbound at Shannon, like BA did with their Baby Jets from London City to JFK?

Would they not use the Voyager or A321s to go west from Shannon?

[sycamore]

As almost forecast in #10,,,,longer range,better t/o and ldg. perf out of N`holt.......

[MPN11]

Would they not use the Voyager or A321s to go west from Shannon?
So many choices … almost (but not quite) like the old days! :D

[chopper2004]

https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/pprune.org-vbulletin/2000x1408/f68c2a8d_65f5_4401_8b91_983f3d23b364_037e23be8f49af5dd88a306 09203fa745fa3334b.jpeg

[Imagegear]

Perhaps I have missed something but in several reference specs I see for the Falcon 900LX, they refer to a max range of approximately 4,650 nm (NBAA 4 Pax IFR Range)

Dassault
The 900LX has a maximum range of 4,750 nm (8,800 km) and a maximum speed of Mach .84. It can take you from Geneva to Chicago, Mumbai to London City or Hong Kong to Sydney, nonstop, while consuming far less fuel than its competitors. In addition to airfield agility, the hallmark of trijet design, the 900LX allows more direct, over-water routing, an advantage that saves both time and fuel, while also enhancing safety.

Another reference

https://altivationaircraft.com/falcon-900lx/

Does the loading of 8 pax + ego's reduce the range by 900 nm?

IG

[N707ZS]

Are they going to be military or civil registered.

[Mil-26Man]

Are they going to be military or civil registered.

Civil to begin, then later Military.

[N707ZS]

Thanks, wondered if it was going to be another A321 Titan airways type agreement, so now presume not.

[Davef68]

Thanks, wondered if it was going to be another A321 Titan airways type agreement, so now presume not.

MOD buying them then leasing to the contractor for two years

[chopper2004]

32 Sqn AW109SP up for replacing now.

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/uk-mod-seeks-contractor-provided-vip-helo/

cheera

[pr00ne]

32 Sqn AW109SP up for replacing now.

https://www.janes.com/defence-news/uk-mod-seeks-contractor-provided-vip-helo/

cheera

Considering how all other re-equipment and replacement programmes with this Govt go, I wonder how they are going to replace it with "less than one?"

[Asturias56]

"we have an aspiration to buy the other half"?

[SLXOwft]

Actually they are looking for 0 or 1+ depending on your point of view; as for the £40-50 million over five years they want the contractor to deliver 365 day availability.

The Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) Special Projects Multi Air Platform (SPMAP) Delivery Team is considering a new procurement for the Rotary Wing Command Support Air Transport (RWCSAT) capability. The procurement is for a 5year period, with a requirement for the contractor to deliver a twin-engine helicopter and support service to deliver one (1) fit for purpose aircraft daily at RAF Northolt. The helicopter must be capable of carrying a minimum of three (3) passengers up to 250 nautical miles (nm). The helicopter must be able to operate in VFR and IFR conditions both day and night down to 500ft. This helicopter will be in support of very important person (VIP) tasking for defence activity.

The services that are likely to be required at the outset of any potential contract are:

1. Provide a suitable VIP transport twin-engine category A helicopter for defence tasking from RAF Northolt.

2. Provide a support service for the helicopter to ensure one (1) helicopter is available for daily tasking between 07:00 and 20:00 hrs, 365 days a year. The support service should be for up to five hundred (500) flying hours per year, with a preferred servicing location of RAF Northolt utilising existing infrastructure.

I do note though they can't quite make up their minds:

4. The helicopter should be capable of single and twin pilot operations with a minimum of three (3) passengers.:)

7. The helicopter should be operated by military pilots under Military Aviation Authority (MAA) regulations. However, a Civilian operated solution could be considered.:hmm:

https://www.find-tender.service.gov.uk/Notice/007373-2022

[pr00ne]

"we have an aspiration to buy the other half"?


Requirement for "up to one?"

[Asturias56]

"At this time..."