BECA Flying High With Air Force Orion Contract

3 March 2008

BECA Flying High With Air Force Orion Contract

Beca Applied Technologies (Beca), part of international engineering consultancy Beca Group, has signed a five year contract with the Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) to maintain software on its six P-3K2 Orion aircraft.

The RNZAF has few long term contracts with private industry and they are usually for maintenance-related services only. The new agreement with Beca is the first long term high technology consultancy and services contract signed by the RNZAF.

Chief of the Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal Graham Lintott, said the partnership with Beca meant the RNZAF would get more value from its existing investments in technology.

“Our contract with Beca will see the Orions using technology that is cutting edge and that will be more adaptable to the ongoing needs of the Air Force and Government,” said Air Vice-Marshal Lintott.

Dr Thomas Hyde, General Manager of Beca Applied Technologies, said the software support requirements for the P-3K2 Orion were unique in the world.

“Beca’s wide resource pool means we can supply a range of high value services in order to meet the Integrated Mission Support Squadron’s needs. The contract cements our position as a leading provider of systems engineering services to the defence sector in New Zealand and builds upon our capability in the development and support of systems based on Microsoft technology”, Dr Hyde said.

The services will be provided to the RNZAF’s Integrated Mission Support Squadron (IMSS), which is tasked with providing mission support to all RNZAF platforms. As part of the contract Beca’s specialist software services team will be based at the IMSS’s base in Whenuapai.

Dr Hyde said Beca had developed a good track record in the defence sector. It already had a detailed understanding of the RNZAF’s P-3K2 Orion software and systems following its work on the three-year upgrade project of the Orions for L-3 Communication Integrated Systems in Texas. Beca was also recently nominated by helicopter manufacturer Agusta Westland to be a New Zealand industry partner on the Training and Light Utility Helicopter project for the New Zealand Defence Force.

Beca’s work for the RNZAF on the development of the IMSS has been shortlisted in the Beca Group’s Innovation Awards, a programme which recognises and rewards innovation on projects for Beca Group clients around the world.

Ends

About Beca
Established in 1918, Beca is New Zealand’s largest employee-owned professional services company employing nearly 2,000 staff in 13 countries, with projects in more than 63 countries.

Beca works in five key sectors: industry, buildings, infrastructure, environmental and resource management services, and delivers engineering, planning, project management, applied technologies, and valuation services.

Headquartered in Auckland, Beca operates from three market hubs: New Zealand, Australia, and Singapore, and designs and supervises projects with a total value of more than NZ$2.4 billion annually.

Recent projects include terminal expansion at the Wellington and Auckland International Airports, Britomart Transport Centre in Auckland, Westpac Stadium in Wellington, Sky Tower and Casino Centre in Auckland, Manukau Wastewater Treatment Plant in Mangere, Auckland City Hospital, and the 338m Macau Tower.

Beca is ranked 85th in the top 200 international design firms (Source: Engineering News Record 2006). Beca is AS/NZS ISO 9001:2000 certified, and has won more than 50 awards in the last five years alone.

Visit http://www.beca.com

ENDS

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