Where should military aircraft be repaired?

[newswatcher]

Interesting article from the Financial Times(10/12):

"...........at specialist centres staffed by government employees, or at the airbases where the aircraft are stationed, using Royal Air Force technicians and private sector contractors?

The question is a sensitive one for 2,500 employees at the government-owned St Athan aircraft servicing and repair facility west of Cardiff. The TGWU general union has warned they could all be made redundant as a result of a BAE Systems and RAF plan. According to Jack Dromey, national secretary, BAE and the RAF want to take away the work of St Athan, and of three smaller facilities run by the Defence Aviation Repair Agency, employing another 2,200.

Fixing jets such as Harriers, Tornadoes, Jaguars and VC-10s where they are stationed seems like a reasonable idea. Flying them to St Athan for the aviation equivalent of a new transmission reduces their availability.

But St Athan has compelling economies of scale. A centre with specialist technicians and equipment is the place for "deep repair" in the same way a hospital, not a health centre, is the place for surgery.

One problem for St Athan is that it looks more like the set of a Battle of Britain epic than a flagbearer for technological efficiency. Built in 1938, the 900 buildings are dispersed across the 1,000-acre site to make it harder for the Luftwaffe to bomb them.

Dara, a government-owned trading organisation with yearly profits of about £20m on turnover of £200m, wants to consolidate through a project called Operation Red Dragon.

A public-private partnership would build a huge £70m hangar for servicing and repairing aircraft in the middle of the airfield. The facility would also, Dara hopes, attract contracts to fix commercial airliners. Surplus land, with help from the Welsh Development Agency, would house private aerospace companies.

Laing, the construction business, last week agreed to build the hangar in return for payments from the income it generates. If Adam Ingram, armed forces minister, signs off Red Dragon's business plan in January, the work should be completed by July 2004.

"The project will happen and it will be great news for Wales," says Andy Hamilton, deputy director of Red Dragon. But ominously for trade unionists, the contract with Laing includes a break clause triggered if Dara ceases to be the main organisation fixing military aircraft.

Also, Red Dragon could be invalidated by BAE and the RAF's ongoing study into wider frontline servicing, which has been subsumed into broader research by consultants McKinsey for the Ministry of Defence.

It seems unlikely, given the politicised character of defence procurement, that the government would cut 2,500 jobs in a depressed area historically loyal to Labour.

But it is probable that Red Dragon will result in efficiency gains leading to a further whittling away of headcount at Dara, which has already reduced numbers by 2,500 to 4,700 over two years. The resulting organisation could prove more attractive to private investors than the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, the government research and development body, whose spin-off has proved tortuous. Steady cash flows inspire a confidence these days that blue-sky thinking cannot."

© Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2002.

[Jackonicko]

We should do whatever it takes to keep DARA open and healthy.

BAE would like nothing better than to see an end to St Athan, which represents a dangerous competitor for the 'Customer Solutions and Support' end of its business. It would like nothing more than to provide all servicing and support to all RAF aircraft through PFI type 'hole in the wall' solutions, or by providing 'Air Power by the Hour'.

The existence of such a home-based competitor (work is unlikely to be sent abroad) is essential to prevent BAE from gaining even more monopoly power, and is vital if we are to achieve air power with value for money for the taxpayer.

Risk averse ITP leaders already blunt the effectiveness of St Athan, since they tend to automatically place upgrade, modification and upgrade work with BAE as the DA and OEM (Design Authority and Original Equipment Manufacturer) even when DARA might do the job better, cheaper and quicker. Those who doubt that DARA can do this need only look at the differences in cost and timescale between the Jaguar upgrade and the BAE Tornado GR4 upgrade.

What a pity that a DARA comparitor bid has not been requested against which to compare BAE's spendthrift Harrier GR9 upgrade proposal.

If the RAF wishes to be the 'intelligent customer' required under 'Smart Procurement' it must retain a full understanding of risk management and costs, and should maintain a robust engineering capability of its own if it is to avoid being fleeced by an increasingly aggressive and monopolistic industrial partner.

[WE Branch Fanatic]

Those who doubt that DARA can do this need only look at the differences in cost and timescale between the Jaguar upgrade and the BAE Tornado GR4 upgrade.
Interesting point Jacko. Perhaps DARA could make a bid to upgrade the Sea Harrier for less than BAE Systems did. If the sums were smaller, it would be easier for the MOD to think again.

Additional Comment: The MOD was recently criticised by the National Audit Office for writing off the several hundred million pounds that were spent upgrading the Sea Harrier to FA2 standard. If DARA could deliver a cheaper upgrade now, then the Admirals might have an easier time trying to save the Sea Jet.

[Chris Kebab]

Jacko/WEBF - you may be getting your DARAs and your DERAs muddled here. Although I am informed the later now like to be known as QinetiQ these days (and the second upper case Q is apparently very important!).

DERA/QinetiQ did/do the Jag upgrade stuff at a bargain price compared to Wasto. Not sure that DARA (St Athen) were involved in any of the Jag design stuff which was all done by some clever (then DERA) chaps at Boscombe. Then again I suspect the Jag OFP is a doddle compared to the GR4.

Not sure Qwintywho (to quote someone not a million miles from here) will be cheap anymore as, by all accounts, they are now totally broke, not spending any money, and looking very ragged in front of this new American venture capital company who have bought in.

[the funky munky]

Retaining 3rd line facilities like DARA allow the MOD a certain amount of strategic capability. Could you honestly see BAE/WHL/Thales workers agreeing to carry out Working parties at an airbase in Saudi during the Gulf war or travel out on board RN ships to finish hasty refits during the Falklands.
We need the flexibility that the Dockyards/Aircraft yards and Vehicle workshops can provide and therefore should be a necessary overhead.
DARA cannot be as competitive as BAE or Wesltands. Its like comparing apples with bananas, two entirely different concepts.
In addition having a third line capability keeps the DA's honest and stops them from having a monopoly on repairs and modification work.