New acquisitions, such as big ships, new jets, Army tanks always get the headlines! That’s where the excitement is, it’s also where the first big chunk of money is. However when the excitement fades away and these items enter into service, its the less exciting but just as important support and maintenance phase that takes over. Governments prefer to establish whole of platform support arrangements where the contractor acts as a ‘Prime’ establishing their own local supply chain. On average these support contracts run for a period of five years to a maximum of ten.
This week sees the release of two such support contracts, both for Border Force capability. One contract is with the Department of Defence for the in-service support of ADV Ocean Protector and the other is for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection to provide in-service support for their Small Vessel (<15m) fleet. Defence will be running an Industry Brief on the 6 Jun 17 at Defence Plaza Sydney. This would be worth attending as ADV Ocean Protector is currently under an interim support arrangement which will bring with it existing service agreements that need to be transitioned and managed under the new contract. Gaining a good understanding of the current state of support will assist in developing your own support strategy should you be intending to bid. This proposed contract would run for an initial period of 5 years with a possible extension to 10 years. The In service support of the Small Vessel fleet is a little more straight forward, with greater flexibility to establish your own local supply chain. This proposed contract is intended to run for 3 years with a maximum term of 6 years. If you are after specific advice on these or any other opportunity listed below, feel free to contact us.
