We service what we sell
Through Life Support
BlueZone’s Involvement:
BlueZone Group’s core capabilities and expertise are providing in-country Through Life Support (TLS) activities to complex electronic and electromechanical systems, which are supplied by overseas Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) to the Australian Defence Force. TLS is highly important for the systems such as the Double eagle, which are operated by the Navy, and can be in-service for multiple years.
BlueZone Group is a dynamic, future-focused company, with a culture of continuous improvement and commitment to performance excellence in terms of cost, quality, and delivery. Our commitment to developing our people and offerings is continually demonstrated through investments in internal R&D and projects. The management of the business aims to support our suppliers and customers’ best interests by delivering excellent value and solutions. The financial health and focus of BlueZone are to improve affordability and efficiency, through LEAN operations.
BlueZone strengths are:
- Embedded culture of continuous improvement
- On Time Delivery to the required quality
- Experienced in providing through life support activities for OEM systems
- Flexibility to work with customer procedures and documentation
- Experienced in liaising and interacting with OEMs and primes working in the same space
- Skilled technical labour that work with complex electronics systems
- Highly proficient in Project Management support skills such as project planning, resource scheduling and project reporting.
Agile and experienced service for Through Life Support including:
- Preventative maintenance
- Unplanned maintenance
- Support to Funded Assisted Maintenance Periods (FAMPs)
- Urgent Defects (URDEFs)
- Phone support direct to ships staff
- Spares procurement and recommendations
- Ships staff training for systems and equipment
BlueZone has extensive experience in the sustainment, development and through life support of maritime RAS as illustrated in the following case studies.
Mine Hunter Coastal Project – Long term ROV support and development
BlueZone Group is an exclusive sovereign, Mine Disposal System support partner to Saab Seaeye, which has aided the Double Eagle Mine Disposal System since early 2000. The MDS Double Eagle comprises fourteen Mine Disposal Vehicles, and six shipboard systems. The engineering team at BlueZone, work closely with Thales Australia to provide in-country servicing of the MDS Double Eagle Systems.
Scope of the services:
As a start-up, BlueZone established a $1bn Minehunter Coastal Project through successful sovereign capability programs. Through Life Support provides agile and experienced services such as:
- Preventative maintenance
- Unplanned maintenance
- Urgent Defects (URDEFs) response
- Phone support direct to ships staff
- Spares procurement and recommendations
- Ships staff training for systems and equipment
- Obsolescence management and engineering development to address obsolescence
Robotic Z-Boat for Army – Evergreening in practice
Following the Army Innovation Day (AID) 2016, BlueZone Group met with the Army and quickly developed novel capability options for the provision of a Z-Boat fleet. The capabilities of the Z-Boat will provide the Army with significant contributions toward the urgent and pressing need to de-risk the riverine environment. The users will gain comprehensive and accurate data to assist with a broad range of operations, such as humanitarian relief.
In May 2017, rapid developments by the BlueZone engineering team allowed for three variants of the Z-Boat to be delivered to the Army. The innovation behind the Z-Boat project is an excellent example of the collaboration between the Army and technologically agile SMEs such as BlueZone Group. The experience BlueZone gained through the Z-Boats, granted the Army to test and acquire more complex, capable, and larger USVs, in the form of MARTAC platforms.
Theatre ASW – Off board DCL using Wave Gliders – Sovereign development with global ‘reach-back’
BlueZone Group has successfully been awarded to lead a collaborative SME team in a significant Defence Innovation Hub (DIH) contract to develop Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) capabilities: P17-246768 – Theatre ASW – Off-board DCL using Wave Gliders. The contract granted the aims to contribute to the ADF’s integrated undersea surveillance system through highly automated and autonomous systems, using Australian developed sonar and combat data processes. The Phase 3 project is valued at $7.1 million, which is the DIH’s second-largest contract, and the second contract awarded to BlueZone Group.
Sonartech Atlas and Acacia Systems are partnered with BlueZone to create an innovative integration of surveillance and automated tracker technology, with leading-edge ASW sensors and unmanned platforms. The Wave Glider system is equipped with KraitArray™ thin line towed array sonar for the detection of acoustic data. These developments will contribute to the Navy’s surface combatant Offboard DCL capability while extending the effect that modern combatants can make to ASW
The concept of the project is to apply automation to a range of ASW operations including the deployment of wide-area surveillance systems, sonar processing, tactical track management and reporting procedures. Unmanned Surface Vehicles (USV) such as the Wave Glider, can be deployed to extend sensor surveillance coverage and automatically detect, classify, and localize submarine contact information to the parent ship.
Throughout the project, BlueZone Group has led local industry partners to develop ASW capabilities that are guided by RAN specific needs. Constant collaboration with overseas OEMs identifies similar endeavours with Australia’s five-eyes partners.
HII REMUS UUV Sustainment – Asia Pacific Support Centre
In 2019, BlueZone was proud to deliver two Next Generation REMUS 100 Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) to Project SEA1770 – Rapid Environmental Assessment. Partnering with Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII), previously known as Hydroid, BlueZone will continue to maintain an establishment as a REMUS support facility for the Australian/NZ region. The REMUS 100 vehicles, are amongst the most advanced UUVs worldwide and are capable of performing hydrographic surveys such as Naval MCM tasks of mine search, classification and identification.
