Mark Burton: Upgrade will keep workhorses flying for 15 more years

Mark Burton

The C-130 Hercules aircraft and their crews sent to work as part of the around-the-clock airlift in support of tsunami victims have done an outstanding job as part of New Zealand's response to this international crisis.

Like the aircraft of many other contributing nations, our C-130s have experienced unwanted maintenance problems. As with those other nations' aircraft, we understand that these arise from the extreme demands being placed on people and equipment in responding to this unprecedented situation.

This is a cause of frustration, but certainly not an embarrassment. My embarrassment is at the behaviour of those few individuals who have chosen to take cheap political potshots at a time when New Zealanders are otherwise united in their generous support of the international relief effort.

Our C-130 fleet is the workhorse of the Air Force, used for a wide range of military airlift tasks and civilian agency requirements.

The C-130s provide support to deployed forces, transporting both personnel and/or large freight items. They can operate in areas of conflict and on short and poorly prepared airfields. They also support counter-terrorism operations by the police and the Defence Force, as well as providing Antarctic supply flights and, of course, support for disaster relief missions.

It should be noted that these highly valued planes are widely used by defence forces around the world, including those of the United States, Britain and Australia.

That said, the C-130 fleet is 38 years old and some systems are becoming difficult to support. Some of the structural elements, mainly in the wings, are approaching the end of their working lives. All these issues have at times affected the aircraft's availability and operational readiness.

That is why in 2001 the Defence Ministry contracted Marshalls of Cambridge Aerospace to conduct a life-of-type study on the feasibility and cost of upgrading the C-130 fleet to extend its service life and improve availability and reliability. The study concluded that a 15-year life extension was both feasible and cost-effective and would significantly improve the availability and reliability of the fleet.

So it was decided the Hercules fleet would get a major 15-year life-extending upgrade, with much of the conversion work being completed in New Zealand.

Late last year I signed the $226 million project contract with suppliers L-3 Communications Spar Airspace, and the project design phase is under way.

Modification work is scheduled to begin early next year, with the first aircraft being modified at L-3 Spars premises in Edmonton, Canada, and the second to fifth aircraft upgraded in Blenheim at Safe Air.

The project consists of:

* Fatigue improvement modifications. Several structural components in the wing and aircraft fuselage will be replaced. Other modifications will improve the ability to manage structural fatigue.

* A mechanical and electrical systems upgrade. Reliability improvement modifications will be carried out to electrical systems, auxiliary power units, environmental control units and engines.

* Communications. Internal communications, radio and encryption equipment will be replaced with modern digital systems that transfer voice and data.

* Flight deck digitisation. Modern digital navigation equipment will be installed to meet future changes to air-traffic management regulations.

* Flight-deck trainer. This will provide a ground-training facility for the flight-deck crew, and will enhance the level of preparedness and improve crew availability.

Upgrading the Hercules is a complex process. The design, development, installation, testing and certification of the prototype aircraft will take nearly three years.

This project is part of the Defence Ministry's long-term development plan released in June 2002. The plan, for the first time, enables decisions on defence acquisitions across all three services to be based on clearly defined objectives, the priority of projects, and affordability.

Contrary to criticisms that New Zealand is not spending enough on defence, the plan provides for spending priorities of more than $3 billion over the next decade. More than 40 per cent of that is committed to major Air Force acquisitions and upgrades.

Since the release of the plan, 22 major re-equipment projects have been advanced. These include investment in seven new purpose-built naval vessels, a $352 million upgrade of the P-3 Orion aircraft fleet, the purchase of two 757-200 jet aircraft to replace the ageing 727s, a project to replace both the Iroquois utility and Sioux training helicopter fleets, and the acquisition of a new fleet of light operational vehicles.

From day one, the Government has been committed to building a modern, sustainable, well-equipped Defence Force. This latest investment in the C-130 fleet is another clear example of that.

It will extend the life of the aircraft, increase reliability and availability, and improve and modernise the C-130s' communications and navigation systems.

* Defence Minister Mark Burton is responding to a Herald editorial that said the Hercules' continual breakdowns were becoming a national embarrassment.