New UK Rescue Helicopters

[buglerbilly]

Sorteria Picked for British SAR Deal

By andrew chuter

Published: 9 Feb 2010 14:20

LONDON - A consortium involving Thales UK, CHC Helicopters, the Royal Bank of Scotland and Sikorsky has been named preferred contractor to take over Britain's search-and-rescue operations in a 6 billion pound ($9.4 billion) deal announced Feb. 9 by the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Transport.


The new search-and-rescue operation would include 24 new Sikorsky S-92 helicopters, such as the one shown above. (COURTESY OF SIKORSKY)

The private finance initiative (PFI) deal for the SAR-H program could result in the Sorteria consortium operating about 24 new Sikorsky S-92 helicopters from 12 bases around mainland Britain's coastline, Defence Procurement Minister Quentin Davies said.

The MoD will carry about two-thirds of the cost, with the remaining funds coming from the Department for Transport, Davies said at a press conference to announce the deal.

The service will run for 25 years from the day Sorteria begins operations at each base. The exact schedule will vary from base to base, but Maritime and Coastguard Agency bases are to see operations begin in 2012. The military bases will start moving over to the new arrangements in 2013 with the switch complete by 2016, MoD officials said.

The deal will replace nearly 40 Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, and Maritime and Coastguard Agency helicopters with a service that will include the provision of crews, helicopters, base management and servicing. Some military crews will be incorporated into the new commercial service.

Davies said that many of the 240 military pilots currently involved in providing the bulk of the SAR services in Britain will be transferred to other helicopter duties to help fill Britain's growing requirement for rotorwing crews.

Some 66 military pilots will be included as part of the Sorteria service in order to retain skills in the role, he said.

Today's military search-and-rescue Sea King helicopters are slated for retirement.

Sorteria consortium member CHC already operates S-92s from two bases in northern Scotland in an interim search-and-rescue service for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, which is due to expire in 2012.

When that deal ends, the existing S-92s and a small AgustaWestland AW139 fleet used by CHC for search-and-rescue duties on two bases in southern England will be moved elsewhere in the company's fleet, said David Rae, the Sorteria bid director.

The consortium beat out a Lockheed Martin, VT Group and British International Helicopters team known as AirKnight to land the SAR-H program.

AirKnight were offering the Eurocopter EC225 helicopter as the basis for its service.

The procurement minister said it was hoped to get the PFI deal to final contract before the end of the year.

Complex defense PFIs have a history of taking years rather than months to move from preferred contractor status to completion, but Davies said the government was accelerating the procurement process compared with the bad record on projects such as the future strategic tanker aircraft deal.

[buglerbilly]

DATE:17/06/10

SOURCE:Flight International

UK to review selection of Team Soteria for SAR-H

By Craig Hoyle

The £6-7 billion price tag is suddenly NOT so appetizing.................another chance for AW139?

The UK Ministry of Defence and the Department for Transport have launched a "thorough review" of the February selection of Team Soteria as preferred bidder to deliver their combined SAR-H search and rescue helicopter service.

Planned as a 25-year private finance initiative deal, SAR-H was expected to deliver operations with a new fleet of around 24 Sikorsky S-92s from 2012. The deal was worth a projected £6 billion ($8.9 billion).

Soteria, which is comprised of CHC and Thales UK, backed by RBS, says it "continues to work with the customer towards contract award".

[Redcoat]

I would love to see some breakdown of these figures and what is included in them.

Wiki gives the cost of an S92 as US$15.3 which I make £10.3 million in real money which gives us the first £247million but the rest ?

I know helicopters use a lot of fuel and need a lot of maintenance and getting actual nmubers out of HMG is like getting blood out a stone but let us use some imagination

Assume that they each fly 15,000 hours in 24 years. That we have 2 crew per aircraft and crewman cost £50,000 each that maintenance is 20 hours for each flying hour and costs £100 per hour . That fuel use is 360 liters per hour and costs £1 per liter
That means that it will cost £42.6million to run each machine plus spares.

so each aircraft cost £52.9million to buy and run total £1296Million that means with the current budget we could afford to buy an extra 553 helicopters as spares and if one has a fault we could throw it away and replace it with a complete new aircraft

So where is all this money going images of fat civil service arses on £1000 chairs springs to mind in offices festooned with priceless works of art and first class travel every where for everyone

[buglerbilly]

AgustaWestland to upgrade old Sea Kings if new air fleet is axed

A £7bn contract with Soteria for 24 search-and-rescue helicopters may be scrapped by the Treasury

By Mark Leftly

Sunday, 20 June 2010

AgustaWestland, the Anglo-Italian helicopter company, is preparing to renew the UK's search-and-rescue (SAR) air fleet, if the coalition Government decides to scrap a £7bn contract for its replacement.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, announced last Thursday that he was suspending plans to replace the ageing Sea King fleet, manufactured by Westland Helicopters. The move has sparked safety fears, as the Sea King's lifespan is expected to end by 2017.

However, AgustaWestland is preparing to dust off two-year-old studies showing that it can extend the helicopters' lives to 2022. It is not clear how much this would cost, but industry sources say that the move is unlikely to provide value for money.

Under the terms of the £7bn SAR-H contract, a Thales-led consortium known as Soteria would provide 24 or more new aircraft working from 12 bases across the country from 2012. A private finance initiative scheme, Soteria would be responsible for training crewmen and for helicopter maintenance over the length of the 25-year contract, which the public sector would pay for in annual instalments.

Mr Alexander decided SAR-H needed to be reassessed to see if it was a necessary expenditure. A defence source said he expected a decision by the end of July, as the Treasury's press notice suggested that SAR-H would be looked into "as a matter of urgency".

This will do little to placate a nervous Whitehall. A senior figure said: "The Sea Kings are knackered and if the Government tries to cut the scope of the contract, availability [of helicopters] will suffer and people will die."

The source added that the Ministry of Defence, in conjunction with the Department for Transport, is against pulling the contract. Historically, much search-and-rescue was run by the military, but now more than 90 per cent is thought to involve civilians.

However, a source close to the Government claimed the Sea Kings will prove durable. He said: "There are other helicopters being upgraded around the world and it tends to be found that those upgrades aren't as difficult as had been anticipated."

The 12 bases cover 11,000 miles of coastline and 1.4m square miles of sea and land. The Soteria consortium includes Royal Bank of Scotland, the helicopter group CHC and manufacturer Sikorsky, as well as Thales.

Soteria is understood to be treating the project as ongoing. Executives have recently been holding meetings with staff across the country about SAR-H and will continue to do so.

Mr Alexander delayed the contract as part of a review of £34bn of schemes and loans approved in the final days of the Labour administration.

[buglerbilly]

U.K. Military Crews Won't Be Part of SAR-H Deal

By ANDREW CHUTER

Published: 3 Dec 2010 13:59

LONDON - British military aircrews are to be dropped from a new deal with an industrial consortium to provide search-and-rescue helicopter (SAR-H) services across the United Kingdom, the government is expected to announce in the next few days.

A 7 billion pound ($10.9 billion) private finance initiative contract was meant to have used a mix of commercial and military crews to provide helicopter search-and-rescue services in a deal set to run for 25 years.

Defense sources said the use of Royal Air Force and Royal Navy crews has now been dropped as part of government efforts to cut military and other spending.

The go-ahead for the deal with the Soteria consortium could be announced by the government as early as next week.

The amended scheme will use purely commercial crews when the last of the 25 Sea King military helicopters undertaking the coastal and inland rescue role are withdrawn around 2014. Nearly 750 military and civilian personnel are directly employed by the Ministry of Defence on search-and-rescue operations, according to figures provided to Parliament in mid-November.

The move will have the temporary benefit of helping to overcome problems of crew overstretch caused by the war in Afghanistan, where the military's Chinook, Merlin, Sea King and Apache helicopters are in huge demand.

They will, however, lose the ability to generate and sustain specialist search-and-rescue skills for overseas deployments, which was one of the reasons for the ongoing military involvement in the first place...............edited............

Read more: http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=5158632&c=EUR&s=TOP

[buglerbilly]

Further delay in SAR-H announcement

December 16, 2010



The UK government has postponed a planned announcement about future plans for search and rescue helicopters.

Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said on 16 December that within the last 48 hours the preferred bidder, Soteria, ‘had become aware of a possible issue in connection with its bid’.

Soteria, a consortium of CHC, Thales and the Royal Bank of Scotland, was chosen as preferred bidder for the SAR-H programme to harmonise the UK fleet of search and rescue helicopters.

The programme would replace the fleet of Sea Kings operated by the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy with Soteria-operated Sikorsky S-92s under a 25-year private finance initiative contract.

Soteria was awarded preferred bidder status in February. However in June the project, which has been variously quoted as costing £4.6 billion to £6 billion, was put on ice as it came under review by the new coalition government.

Mr Hammond said: ‘In the circumstances it is not appropriate for us to proceed with the planned announcement until the status of this issue has been clarified.’

He added that a further statement would be made House of Commons as soon as the government was able to provide further information ‘and to set out our plans for proceeding to secure the provision of search and rescue helicopter capability in the future’.

‘We regret the further uncertainty that this entails for all those involved in providing the UK's search and rescue service.’

A spokesman for Soteria told Rotorhub.com: 'Soteria recently became aware of a potential issue that it believed merited further discussion with the IPT [Integrated Project Team]. Soteria will provide no further comments until our discussions with the IPT are complete and the matter is satisfactorily resolved.'

The review of the SAR-H contract has now taken longer than the government’s entire Strategic Defence and Security Review process, which reviewed the UK’s defence needs for the next five years.

By Tony Osborne, London

[buglerbilly]

Investigation underway into Soteria SAR-H bid

January 28, 2011



An investigation is underway into alleged improper conduct over the Soteria consortium’s bid for a multi-billion pound contract to provide the UK a new modern fleet of SAR helicopters.

The deal is reportedly on the verge of collapse amid concerns that Soteria, the preferred bidder for the contract, may have been provided with information during the competitive tender process from someone inside the government’s project team.

Furthermore, it's been confirmed to Rotorhub.com that the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) pulled out of the consortium before Christmas but has refused to comment further on the reasons why.

If a breach of the rules governing such deals is identified, or if the consortium is no longer in a position to fulfil its obligations to the programme, it’s likely the government will have to retender the contract or scrap it altogether.

This could cause wide-scale reverberations around the military helicopter community as it may force the Ministry of Defence (MoD) to extend the life of its fleet of search and rescue Sea King helicopters, which are due to exit service at the end of 2016.

Soteria, a consortium of CHC, Thales and RBS, was chosen as preferred bidder for the SAR-H programme to harmonise the UK fleet of search and rescue helicopters in February 2010.

However, the project, which has been variously quoted as costing £4.6 billion to £6 billion, was put on ice in June as it came under review by the new coalition government.

A planned December announcement regarding the programme was delayed when Soteria raised a concern with the Department for Transport, stating it had 'become aware of a potential issue'.

Both government departments involved in the project have confirmed an investigation is ongoing but would not to comment on any specific aspects at issue.

In a statement to the Financial Times, Soteria said while RBS had withdrawn as a shareholder, the other members of the consortium remained ‘committed to Soteria and the SAR-H Project and are continuing to work with the procuring authority to deliver an essential search and rescue service for the people of the UK’.

By Tony Osborne, London

[buglerbilly]

Ares

A Defense Technology Blog

U.K. SAR Program In Need of Rescue

Posted by Robert Wall at 2/2/2011 3:59 AM CST

The U.K. is finding itself in yet another helicopter procurement mess, this time over the effort to outsource search-and-rescue helicopter service.
Having selected the Soteria consortium in 2009 to provide the service, the private finance initiative has come completely unglued.

Military police are investigating improper conduct in the ₤6 billion deal, the Financial Times reports. The financial institution key to pulling off the PFI, the Royal Bank of Scotland, has pulled out, and the program progress has been suspended as the government tries to sort out what has transpired and how to move forward.

U.K. government officials have said next to nothing since they indicated, in December, the program was under review. However, there are growing indications an announcement could emerge soon, perhaps next week, on how to proceed.

Scrapping the deal would be particularly bad news for Sikorsky, which was to provide the search-and-rescue helicopter using its S-92.

Other manufacturers, AgustaWestland and Eurocopter, are watching with interest to see if there will be a new tender. Several industry officials suggest it could be difficult to proceed with the arrangement currently on the books given all that has transpired in recent weeks.

AgustaWestland is all but assured to benefit from the turmoil. The current rotorcraft used in the SAR role, the Sea King, will almost certainly require additional work to remain viable until a replacement is fielded, regardless of whether that is the S-92 or something else.

But the really big questions the U.K. needs to ask is whether a PFI makes sense and whether the demand to sustain 12 bases makes sense.

[buglerbilly]

Search and Rescue Helicopter Competition

(Source: UK Ministry of Defence; issued Feb. 3, 2010)

An article in today's Financial Times claims that the MOD was warned of possible improprieties in the Search and Rescue Helicopter (SAR-H) competition as early as 2008.

We can confirm that the Air Rescue UK consortium wrote to the MOD in October 2008 giving reasons for their withdrawal from the SAR-H competition. Their observations were all addressed in a formal response to the consortium in October 2008.

Ministers will make a statement in Parliament on the status of the SAR-H competition shortly. (ends)

MoD Was Told of Air Rescue Privatisation Concerns (excerpt)

(Source: Financial Times; published Feb. 2, 2011)

The Ministry of Defence was warned of possible misconduct in the £6bn privatization of the search and rescue service more than two years before it launched a military police investigation into the bidding process.

Senior Whitehall figures have told the Financial Times that a rival bidder raised the alarm in 2008 after discovering that military officers handling the privatisation had taken jobs with CHC, a Canadian helicopter operator whose Soteria consortium went on to win the competition.

One of the officers named in the 2008 letter from the UK Air Rescue consortium has since emerged as a focus of a military police inquiry, launched in December, relating to the handling of information during the bidding process.

Ministers have suspended the privatisation talks while the inquiries continue. The response to the 2008 allegations is likely to heighten concerns about the MoD’s handling of the privatisation and raise questions over rules governing MoD employees when taking jobs with industry.

In its correspondence with MoD officials, the UK Air Rescue consortium cited its concerns over a possible breach of confidentiality as a reason for its withdrawal from bidding. It also criticised the lack of safeguards in protecting sensitive commercial information. Several officers were named in the letter who had moved from the MoD’s “Integrated Project Team” on search and rescue to take jobs with Soteria consortium members.

Click here for the full article, on the Financial Times website.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e90bffc2-2f14-11e0-88ec-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1CyuzldTI

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

SAR-H abandoned

February 08, 2011



NOT a good end result but an obvious one............

The programme to replace and harmonise the UK's fleet of search and rescue helicopters, SAR-H, has been abandoned after irregularities were found in the bidding process.

Military police are now investigating the preferred bidder, Soteria, and the conduct of members of its bid team after allegations that a former member of the joint Ministry of Defence/Department for Transport integrated project team (IPT) had assisted the consortium in its bid preparation by providing access to commercially sensitive information.

In a statement, Secretary of State for Transport Phillip Hammond said: 'The government has sufficient information to enable it to conclude that the irregularities that have been identified were such that that it would not be appropriate to proceed with either the preferred bid or with the current procurement process.'

Soteria, a consortium of CHC, Thales and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), was chosen as preferred bidder for SAR-H last February. However, the project, which has been variously quoted as costing £4.6 billion to £6 billion, was put on ice in June when it came under review by the new government.

A planned December announcement regarding the programme was delayed when Soteria raised a concern with the Department for Transport, while RBS pulled out of the consortium just before Christmas, apparently due to concerns about the irregularities.

A spokesman from Soteria told Rotorhub.com: 'Soteria is disappointed to learn that the UK government has announced the cancellation of the SAR-H programme.

'We remain confident that Soteria was designated as the preferred bidder for the SAR-H programme as a result of the value, expertise, dedication, excellence and exceptional technical solution that Soteria can provide in leading search and rescue efforts across the UK.

'Soteria is evaluating the government’s decision and, if given the opportunity, is confident that it is capable of delivering the SAR-H programme and stands ready to work with the UK government.'

Hammond says the government is now examining alternative procurements and 'options to maintain continuity of search and rescue helicopter cover until new longer-term arrangements can be put in place’.

Currently, SAR helicopter operations are carried out by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force flying the Westland Sea King, and by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) using a mix of S-92s and AW139s provided by CHC under an interim contract. Under the Soteria SAR-H bid, this mixed fleet would have been replaced with a single fleet of Sikorsky S-92As based at 12 stations around the country. The service was due to be in place by 2016, when the Sea King is planned to exit service. This may now change.

Soteria was chosen as the preferred bidder over AirKnight, a consortium comprising Lockheed Martin, VT Group and British International Helicopters, which had selected the Eurocopter EC225 as its platform.

By Tony Osborne, London

[buglerbilly]

SAR 2011: UK urged to reconsider SAR

April 14, 2011

The head of the Irish Coast Guard says the UK could follow Ireland's model for choosing its future SAR helicopter solution.

Chris Reynolds, director of the Irish Coast Guard told Shephard that the UK had 'over-egged' the decision process behind the SAR-H programme.

He suggested the UK consider the more simplistic criteria-based model such as the one that his organisation had adopted when choosing a bidder for its own new SAR helicopter contract, which was awarded to CHC in 2010.

'With our contract, we essentially wanted to continue with what we already had, but with new technology,' he said, 'It wasn't supposed to be a complete change in the way we doing things as SAR-H was in the UK. It seems to have been a very long process, but if the UK needs to be looking at a new interim contract, they could look at how we did it.'

The Irish Coast Guard formed what was called the Future Helicopter Study Group (FHSG), which discussed the country's helicopter needs, looking at high-risk and low-risk areas – shipping routes, for example – before tendering, a process which attracted seven bids.

CHC walked away with the €500 million contract and the Irish Coast Guard is now set to receive five S-92s for the new 10-year contract – in contrast to the private finance initiative (PFI) process that was unsuccessfully followed for the SAR-H programme.

One aircraft will be delivered new from the Sikorsky factory at the end of this year, while the other four will as planned come from the currently running UK interim SAR contract currently flown by CHC from two bases at Sumbergh in the Shetlands and Stornoway in the Outer Hebrides. The Irish contract is planned to be fully operational by July 2013.

In the meantime, it's still not clear which direction the UK government will turn to solve the issue created by the collapse of SAR-H earlier this year. CHC says it is in discussion with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency about the interim contract.

One source suggested to Shephard, that the service life of the Sea King fleet might need to be extended to 2018, two years beyond its current out-of-service date. Such a decision would give time for the government to introduce another interim SAR contract and allow the Department of Transport time to re-examine the options for a possible 'son of SAR-H'.

Roderick Johnson, Chief Coastguard and assistant director of Coastal Safety at the UK MCA said any decision was still subject to ministerial discussion, but added that the collapse of SAR-H had had no effect on the Coastguard's plans to modernise.

Johnson did say that the loss of the RAF's Nimrod fleet had left the Coastguard with a capability gap, as it was not always guaranteed that types like the C-130 or the E-3D Sentry would be available to provide top cover.

'Previously we could have just rung Kinloss and we would have had a Nimrod assisting us. Now if I need an E-3, it has to go through higher commands and we might not get the E-3, so we do have a capability gap there,' said Johnson.

Tony Osborne, Bournemouth

[buglerbilly]

Industry awaits SAR-H successor

April 20, 2011

The UK helicopter industry is gearing up to compete for a further interim SAR contract that would give the government time to find a successor to the abandoned SAR-H project.

Speaking to reporters at London Oxford Airport on 19 April, Eurocopter’s director of government and public relations, Tim MacMahon, said it was understood that the Department of Transport (DfT) had ‘restarted the process’ and a request for proposals (RfP) was expected to be released in May.

‘We think the RfP will be for a contract that will be awarded later this year and it will take over from the SAR interim contract that is currently run by CHC. This Gap SAR contract will take it out a few more years,’ MacMahon said.

However, a DfT spokesperson would not be drawn on the claims, stating only that the government would make a decision shortly.

‘Potential procurement options are being considered for both short and long term service arrangements, as well as value for money. The government will make a decision as soon as possible,’ the spokesperson said.

The government’s long-term solution for the provision of the UK’s SAR service, the SAR-H programme, was abandoned in February after irregularities were found in the bidding process.

An investigation was launched after allegations that a former member of the joint Ministry of Defence/DfT integrated project team had assisted the preferred bidder, Soteria, in its bid preparation by providing access to commercially sensitive information.

SAR helicopter operations are currently carried out by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force flying the Westland Sea King, and by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) using a mix of S-92s and AW139s provided by CHC under an interim contract.

However, CHC are due to provide four S-92s that are currently operating under this contract to the Irish Coast Guard to meet its commitments there, with the Irish service planned to be fully operational by July 2013. CHC says it is in discussion with the MCA about the current UK interim contract.

If an RfP for a ‘Gap SAR’ contract was to be released as early as May it is currently unclear which industry teams may emerge to meet the requirement.

It is understood that the Soteria consortium, which originally consisted of CHC, Thales and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), has largely broken up, personnel going back to their parent companies and the consortium website coming down soon after details of the investigation emerged.

Soteria was originally chosen as the preferred bidder for SAR-H over AirKnight, a consortium comprising Lockheed Martin, VT Group and British International Helicopters, which had selected the EC225 as its preferred platform.

Tony Skinner, London

[buglerbilly]

UK to launch interim SAR competition

July 11, 2011



The British government is to launch a competition to find an interim search and rescue (SAR) helicopter provider following the collaspe of the £6 billion SAR-H programme.

Secretary of State for Transport Philip Hammond announced the competition in the House of Commons on Monday, 11 July, but set no date for when it would begin. He said he wanted to ensure that SAR helicopter services continued 'uninterrupted' until new long-term arrangements are in place.

The new interim contract could run for up to five years.

Currently, SAR helicopter operations are carried out by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force flying the Westland Sea King, and by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) using a mix of S-92s and AW139s, provided by CHC under an interim contract operating from Portland, Lee on Solent, Shetland and the Isle of Lewis. That contract is due to end in spring 2012.

Under previous plans, the helicopters involved in the interim contract would have been replaced by a new single-type fleet purchased by preferred SAR-H bidder Soteria – a consortium of CHC, Thales and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The service would have begun operations when the interim contract ended, and was due to be fully in place by 2016, when the Sea King is planned to be retired.

But the programme collasped in February and remains the subject of an enquiry by military police investigating the conduct of members of Soteria's bid team. The debacle has forced a major re-think on SAR provision.

Hammond said: 'The contract will be open to all interested bidders able to offer a service that fully meets our requirements and ensures the safety of the public and seafarers.

'These arrangements will ensure that SAR helicopter services are maintained while the range of options in relation to the long-term future provision of such services are being fully considered.

'The RAF and Royal Navy will continue to provide coverage from their SAR bases as at present, while I consider the options for the long-term provision of SAR helicopter capability.

'I will inform the House later in the year of the government’s intentions for the longer term. The procurement strategy we adopt for the longer term will seek to ensure that the Ministry of Defence is able to complete its previously announced intention to withdraw its Sea Kings from service in 2016.'

Tony Osborne, London

[buglerbilly]

Details emerge of UK Gap SAR requirement

September 22, 2011

Details have emerged about the UK government's interim search and rescue requirement, following the collapse of the £6 billion SAR-H project earlier this year.

The new programme, which has been dubbed the Gap Search and Rescue Helicopter Service and became open to tender in July, was launched as an emergency measure in order to ensure continuity of service following the abandonment of the SAR-H programme after irregularities were found in the bidding process.

Shephard understands that the new programme is currently being bid for by five consortia.

The Department for Transport (DfT) - the tendering department – has stated that the contract will be for six years with the option to extend a further 12 months. The department hopes to have the Gap SAR service operational by April 2012 with the total cost of the contract estimated to be between £200 and £235 million.

According to Gap SAR tendering documents, the DfT is offering bidders the opportunity to make three bids: one that covers the two northern bases, one that covers the south bases and a bid that covers both regions. This may open the possibility of different providers operating the Scottish and south coast operations.

Currently, SAR helicopter operations are carried out by the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force flying the Westland Sea King, and by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) using a mix of S-92s and AW139s, provided by CHC under an interim contract operating from Portland, Lee on Solent, Shetland and the Isle of Lewis. That contract is due to end in the first half of 2012.

Under previous plans, the helicopters involved in the interim contract would have been replaced by a new single-type fleet purchased by preferred SAR-H bidder Soteria – a consortium of CHC, Thales and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). The service would have begun operations when the interim contract ended, and was due to be fully in place by 2016, when the Sea King is planned to be retired.

Soteria's behaviour during SAR-H still remains the subject of an inquiry by military police.

Tony Osborne, London

[buglerbilly]

Transport Department to Procure New Civilian UK Search and Rescue Service

(Source: UK Ministry of Defence; issued Nov. 28, 2011)

The Department for Transport has started the procurement process for a new UK wide search and rescue helicopter service to be provided by civilian crews, it has been announced today.

The Secretary of State for Transport, Justine Greening, announced to Parliament in a written statement that she wished to inform the House of the Government's intentions for the future of the search and rescue helicopter service in the UK.

She said that following the cancellation of the SAR-H Private Finance Initiative in February, the Department for Transport will today publish a notice in the Official Journal of the European Union to commence procurement for a new UK-wide service contract. She added:

"My Right Honorable Friend the Defence Secretary has agreed that the new contract will provide a search and rescue capability provided by civilian crews, enabling our Armed Forces to focus activity on their front-line operations.

"The Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force crews have shown great dedication and professionalism in delivering an exemplary search and rescue service for many years, and we owe them all great thanks for this.

"Looking forward, we are confident that, building on nearly 30 years of civilian service provided under contract to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), a fully civilian service will be able to maintain the same standards in the future.

The Department for Transport are procuring a contracted search and rescue helicopter service for the whole of the UK, for a period of approximately 10 years.

The Royal Air Force and Royal Navy will continue to provide search and rescue coverage until the replacement for this capability is in place, and Ms Greening said that it is her intention that the contract will require this to be the first part of the new service, adding:

"This will ensure that the Ministry of Defence is able to meet its previously announced intention to withdraw from service and retire its fleet of Sea King helicopters by March 2016. The replacement for the capability currently provided by the MCA will follow on from this. This transition will ensure continuity of service."

Bidders for the future service will be able to put forward options which will utilise a mixed fleet of modern helicopters based on the capabilities required at each of the bases (such as range, carrying capacity and endurance). The services will be capable of delivery by different contractors providing complementary services.

The introduction of a modern fleet of fast, reliable helicopters will lead to major improvements in the capability available from the present mix of helicopters. Modern helicopters operating from ten full-time bases can not only continue to meet all current service requirements but also provide faster flying times to a large part of the UK search and rescue region, as well as providing a more reliable service. This will therefore be reflected in the new contract.

Ms Greening added that:

"It is my intention that search and rescue operations will cease at RAF Boulmer in 2015 and at MCA Portland when the interim arrangements that were announced in July expire. Other operations at RAF Boulmer will be unaffected by this."

The award of the new contract is expected to take place in early 2013 to give the future service provider time to mobilise the new capability.

-ends-

[buglerbilly]

Split contract for Gap SAR

08 February 2012 - 11:37 by Tony Osborne in London



The UK Government has signed contracts with Bristow and CHC to provide helicopters for an interim search and rescue requirement, it has been announced.

In a statement by Mike Penning, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport, it was announced that Bristow will operate SAR services from Stornoway and Shetland while CHC has been signed up to continue its operations from Portland and Lee-on-Solent.

Bristow will operate the S-92 while CHC is expected to continue use the AW139.

The contracts are expected to get underway in July 2013 and will continue through to June 2017. Both contracts will be managed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

Penning said work was continuing on the development of longer-term contracts to replace the failed SAR-H programme, which collapsed at the beginning of 2011. The 'Long SAR' programme will end the current military involvement in SAR allowing the MoD to retire the Sea King by March 2016.

Mike Imlach, director of Bristow, said: 'We are delighted to work with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to provide this important service from the Scottish islands.

'We will bring our expertise to this contract, developed in the UK between 1971 - 2007 with 11,500 missions. In addition, we currently operate search and rescue services in Norway, the Netherlands, and Trinidad.

'As we take over the service, Bristow will work closely with the current operator to ensure that staff eligible for transfer, achieve a smooth and seamless transition during this organisational change.'

CHC S-92s currently operating in Scotland are expected to move to Ireland for operations with the Irish Coast Guard (ICG). The first ICG S-92 - a new-build aircraft - was delivered to Shannon in late January and will undertake a five-month training programme before entering operational service on 1 July.

CHC is yet to comment on the Gap SAR contract.