Call for tenders for new-style fleet maintenance

A call for tenders has been issued for a capability life-cycle manager (CLCM) to maintain Navy’s Hobart-class destroyers.

CAPTION: HMAS Brisbane is one of the Hobart-class destroyers in the fleet. Photo by Petty Officer Yuri Ramsey.

The Hobart-class destroyers will be the first major class of ship to be sustained through a CLCM arrangement, which has been timed to support the Hobart-class destroyer upgrade project.

This is a significant milestone for Plan Galileo, which is a response to the Australian Government’s National Naval Shipbuilding Enterprise that will provide the nation with its greatest naval capability regeneration since World War II.

Plan Galileo will ensure the significantly larger and more complex fleet that will result is effectively sustained.

The CLCM will work collaboratively with personnel in Defence’s Systems Program Office, which oversees the sustainment and maintenance of the Hobart-class destroyers, as well as other organisations providing through-life asset management for the class.

Head Maritime Systems in Defence’s Capability Acquisition and Sustainment Group Rear Admiral Wendy Malcolm said CLCMs would be a key element of the new innovative way that Defence and industry work together to sustain the Navy’s existing and future fleet.

“Our new approach to sustainment under Plan Galileo will deliver sustainment support to the larger and more complex fleet that will result from the continuous naval shipbuilding program,” Rear Admiral Malcolm said.

“Australian industry will continue to be a key partner as we further develop and implement this approach to sustaining our fleet.

“The CLCM’s role is critical to asset management and engineering functions, optimising an asset’s capability, including cost-effective vessel sustainment, and providing capability enhancement and integration services for capability updates and upgrades required over time.”

The CLCM will implement a common baseline of systems, standard processes and contractual terms to drive commonality across Navy assets.

This will ensure a more effective use of resources and aim to reduce the complexity for the supply chain for future capabilities.

“We will work with the CLCM to collaboratively develop sovereign sustainment capability so that Defence is more self-reliant in sustainment,” Rear Admiral Malcolm said.

“Our new approach in working together will ultimately support Australian industry through job opportunities, removing barriers to entry into the Defence maritime sector and providing more certainty to plan and invest.

“We are entering into an exciting period now, with this request for tender release, and on the horizon there is more to come as we steadily implement a network of regional maintenance centres and plan more CLCMs.”

The tender will close on January 21, more information is available on the AusTender website.

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