Jeppesen to develop an integrated air operations center solution for RAF future strategic tanker aircraft program

Jeppesen recently contracted with UK-based Babcock International Group (formerly VT Group) and Geneva-based APM Technologies SA to provide AirTanker with the delivery, test and support of an integrated Air Operations Center solution for the Royal Air Force fleet of 14 converted Airbus A330 tanker aircraft that will form the future transport and refueling fleet for the UK Ministry of Defense. AirTanker is a UK company created to deliver the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) service to the Ministry of Defense, under a 27-year Private Finance Initiative contract.
Working under the auspices of the FSTA program, Jeppesen and its partner APM will provide a fully integrated flight planning, fleet management, flight following, crew scheduling and financial management Air Operations Center (AOC) solution on behalf of Babcock International. The Jeppesen AOC solution will also interact with maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO), back office and training systems of the AirTanker program at their facility at RAF Brize Norton, UK. The initial aircraft is due to be delivered to the RAF in late-2011, and the remaining aircraft will be phased in over the following five years. When at full service delivery in 2016, the Airbus A330 AirTanker fleet will provide both transport and air-to-air refueling services for the UK Ministry of Defense. Delivery of an overall Fleet Operations System (FOPS) is the responsibility of Babcock International. The system will also manage the fleet utilization, crew management, financial performance and flight planning of the FSTA fleet. The Jeppesen Air Operations Center solution will serve as a vital component of the Fleet Operations System for the Royal Air Force Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft Program, said John Kinsman, director, Jeppesen Military Client Management. Jeppesen is providing a proven, industry-leading software solution from our Professional Services organization to meet program requirements and to support the Royal Air Forces dedication to modernizing their tanker fleet. As part of the development process, the Jeppesen Air Operations Center solution ensures a lengthy and expertly designed test and evaluation timeframe to deploy and test multiple versions of the integrated software in a non-operational environment. Jeppesen has partnered with APM Technologies of Geneva, Switzerland who provide sophisticated fleet and crew scheduling, situational awareness and financial modeling software modules that will support the programs overall solution. Jeppesen and APM Technologies had previously deployed a similar system for the RAF at Brize Norton to manage their current airlift and tanker operations. This initial agreement with Babcock International also provides Jeppesen with the opportunity to license flight planning and integration technology through a 21-year follow-on support and maintenance contract to begin in 2011 and for APM the opportunity to license for the same period the fleet management, flight following, crew scheduling and financial management aspects which are developed by APM together with their integration technology.
Contact
Brian Rantala
From
Jeppesen
Website
Date

Comments

There are no comments yet for this item

Join the discussion

You can only add a comment when you are logged in. Click here to login