Aurora partnership secures £22 million contract to provide expert support to Royal Navy fleets

The Aurora Engineering Partnership and the UK MoD's Defence Equipment and Support (DE&S) organisation have agreed a new £22 million contract to provide support to the RN and Royal Fleet Auxiliary fleets. 

The contract will run for five years until 2028, and Aurora will provide subject matter expertise and support to the DE&S Ships Maintenance Management (SMM) team, specifically Reliability Centred Management (RCM) expertise. 

Aurora will assist in platform and equipment maintenance generation, third-party audits of RCM studies, and workforce training in RCM methodology and application.

As part of the contract, the company will also deliver direct support to all users of the navy's prime maintenance management system (UMMS), and Aurora partner BMT will provide independent audit and training services. Xpedite will deliver the bulk of the RCM SME activity.

Cdr Matt Shirvill RN, the SMM owner, praised the collaboration between the two sides and stated that the contract would provide essential maintenance support to surface and sub-surface fleets and the wider maritime support community. 

The Aurora Engineering Partnership consists of QinetiQ, Atkins and BMT and delivers the Engineering Delivery Partner (EDP) model for the procurement of engineering services for DE&S.