Seahawk PBL Contract Sets New Standard, Companies Say

Principals with the Maritime Helicopter Support Company (MHSCo) of Lockheed Martin and Sikorsky Aircraft assert that a nearly $2 billion performance-based logistics (PBL) contract the U.S. Navy awarded the joint venture to maintain MH-60 Seahawks will set a new contracting standard. An executive said Sikorsky is also discussing a similar support arrangement with the U.S. Army for more numerous UH-60 Black Hawks.

The Naval Supply Systems Command awarded MHSCo the $1.99 billion fixed-price-per-flight hour PBL contract on February 27. The “Seahawk 2015” contract is the service’s third five-year agreement with the company since 2004, and runs through January 2020. In a teleconference with reporters on March 2, Rod Skotty, MHSCo president, declared the latest contract will set a new standard for cost accounting “visibility” in line with the Pentagon’s Better Buying Power initiative to control costs throughout the lifecycle of a product. “It’s a successful model, something we’re proud of,” added George Mitchell, Sikorsky vice president of aircraft and support. The companies have “invested handsomely” in the effort, he said.

Under the new contract, MHSCo will manage more components—1,710 compared with 1,266 previously—for more helicopters overall. The company previously maintained 330 older SH-60B/Fs and HH-60Hs; under the new contract it will service more than 530 MH-60R/Ss. Much of the growth in the number of parts is associated with the new mission avionics of the MH-60R/S, which share Lockheed Martin’s flat-panel display Common Cockpit. The PBL contract also supports 24 MH-60Rs the Royal Australian Navy ordered in 2011.

Mitchell said Sikorsky, or potentially MHSCo, would apply the same methodology to maintaining Army Black Hawks, although any such arrangement “would have a large depot component.” The manufacturer expects a contract can be negotiated by next year.