Brazilian Navy awards helicopter carrier through life support contract to UK firm

Defence company the Babcock International Group has been awarded a four-year contract to deliver through life support to the Brazilian Navy’s flagship, the helicopter carrier NAM Atlantico, as part of its global support programme.

The through life support package will see Babcock deliver maintenance planning and delivery, technical advice and knowledge transfer. The company will also assist the Brazilian Navy in developing a spares management system for the ship, delivering a range of technical training packages to personnel on board and at the ship’s home naval base, and developing and installing upgrades on the ship.

An in-country team will be embedded within the Arsenal de Marinha do Rio de Janeiro, the main maintenance centre and naval base of the Brazilian Navy, to deliver this package of work. This in-country will be supported by a team based in the UK that will provide technical support from the wider Babcock business.

Support has already commenced with an in-country presence established ahead of the first maintenance period, scheduled to begin in April 2022.

Atlantico is the former HMS Ocean, which operated as the UK Royal Navy’s flagship from 1998 until its decommissioning in 2018.