Rotable management: follow on support contract

Abstract

18 nos. of Su-30Ks and 22 nos. of Su-30 MKs got inducted into the Indian Air Force in 1997 against a direct purchase of 40 nos. of Su-30 aircraft. The fleet was supplemented by another batch of 10 nos. of Su-30 MK bought directly by the IAF from Russia between 2002-2004. Out of these, 18 nos. of Su-30 Ks were swapped with Su-30 MKI and the remaining 32 nos. of aircraft were later upgraded to Su-30 MKI by Russians at HAL. Six contracts have been concluded between HAL and IAF to manufacture and supply a total of 222 aircraft. As on date, there are 235 nos. of Su-30 MKI aircraft operating at 8 operating bases spread across the country at Pune, Tezpur, Chabua, Bareilly, Sirsa, Halwara, Jodhpur and Gwalior. By 2019-20, the total strength of Su 30 MKI aircraft fleet in IAF will be around 265 aircraft. Serviceability of the Su-30MKI fleet has been hovering around 50 % which was deemed as quite low for operational preparedness of Indian Air Force (IAF) . Thus, this needs to be increased upon by joint efforts of HAL and IAF through spares supply, Off the shelf availability of Rotables, TTGE maintenance and support, On-site technical support, Engineering support activities, obsolescence management, etc. Towards this Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) presented the philosophy of Follow-on- Support (FOS) for Su-30MKI to Ministry of Defence (MoD) wherein the logistic support and planning of spares required for the whole fleet will be managed by HAL. HAL will act as a single window support for Su30 MKI fleet wherein demand for all types of spares, rotables , ground handling equipment s and on site snag rectification of fleet will be undertaken by HAL. The payment methodology for such contract will be based on Demand Satisfaction Rate achieved by fulfilling the demand raised by IAF. Time frame for supply of each kind of category of item is predefined in the draft contract.The supply chain model will work on hub and spoke model where Main Warehouse would be in HAL Nasik Division as Centralized Spares Support Centre (CSSC) and feeder stores would be at four HAL Sister divisions of Su-30 program and Forward support stores (FSS) or Customer Service Centers would be at nine IAF bases (08 existing + 01 proposed).3PL service provider has to establish and manage warehouses at CSSC/Feeder Stores/FSS and provide logistics services at all 14 locations. HAL would provide warehouse building along with basic infrastructure and vendor would augment the same. Additionally, vendor would establish an IT infrastructure at all 14 locations covering both hardware and software elements. However, inter location connectivity would be provided by HAL.Proposed HAL-IAF FOS contract would be for a period of 05 years with 01 year time given for setting up of facilities. So, the total contract period of HAL-IAF contract would be 06 years. Proposed Contract consists of 2 parts: i.e Warehouse operations and management and Logistics and Transportation. Successful execution of the project depends on accurate forecasting of spares and rotables being finalized in the contract. Towards this, it is essential to adopt a forecasting technique which takes care of all variability and factors which influences the demand for listed items. During initial launch of project a Centralized warehouse has been planned at Nasik Division being the nodal agency for execution of project. Logistic support will be extended to all IAF bases directly from Nasik Division. The report also explores possibility of establishing a regional warehouse at intermediate location to enable quick delivery of service at majority of IAF bases.