BAE Systems Awarded UK MoD Support Contract for Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle

Released on Thursday, June 26, 2008

NEWCASTLE, United Kingdom � A £28 million support contract awarded by the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD) to BAE Systems for the new Panther Command and Liaison Vehicle (CLV) holds the promise of better vehicle availability at lower through-life cost.

The Panther System Support Arrangement (SSA) was announced today at DVD™ 2008, an annual event held by UK MOD. The contract, incentivises BAE Systems and its supply network to guarantee availability and reduce cost of ownership for the British Army from the day the vehicle enters service. The Panther is the first UK military vehicle to be entering service under this type of arrangement

BAE Systems Land Systems support director Ian McNeeney commented: "This contract sets the standard for all future support arrangements for military vehicles. It represents a new way of contracting with the MOD in the land sector and includes a mechanism to continually improve vehicle reliability and service delivery to provide a more responsive, lower-cost service to the front line."

The SSA takes a phased approach. An initial 21-month baselining will collect key data on cost and reliability as the vehicle is deployed worldwide on training and operations to determine operating cost and support requirements for Phase 2. Phase 2 will provide a steady-state five-year support service that could be extended to cover the vehicle through life.

The contract requires that BAE Systems provides 90 per cent availability of materiel plus technical support services to the front line, including BAE Systems' own field support technicians deployed with Army units in UK, Germany & BATUS, the British Army training area in Canada. Panther is also the first British Army armoured vehicle to be fitted with a health & usage monitoring system (HUMS) which will monitor the vehicle's performance and provide front line operating data.

Col John Ogden, Light Armoured Systems team leader at Defence Equipment and Support added: "Following successful reliability trials, BAE Systems has delivered 217 of 401 Panthers to date. In conjunction with the signing of a support contract with BAE Systems, this enabled the MOD to formally announce ISD. This achievement is a tribute to both the quality of the vehicle and the effectiveness of the working relationship between the MoD and BAE Systems project teams. We are confident that soldiers on the ground will like this new capability and appreciate the benefits of its support arrangement."

The contract will be managed by a joint MOD/BAE Systems team co-located at the MOD's Defence Equipment & Support Abbeywood offices, Bristol, with "back office" support at Newcastle, where Panther undergoes final assembly and integration and at Telford, the BAE Systems support centre for Light and Medium Vehicles.

A total of 401 Panthers is scheduled to be delivered by summer 2009. They will replace or supplement a range of vehicles including the Land Rover, Saxon and some tracked reconnaissance vehicles.