Too soon to say if jobs will go under new contract: army

The New Zealand Army is unable to say if jobs will be lost after a new $144 million contract was signed with American aircraft maker Lockheed Martin for the next 10 years.

The contract would provide the army with warehousing, repair and maintenance services, including the army's light armoured vehicles (LAV IIIs), its Pinzgauer light operational vehicles (LOVs) and Unimog trucks, mostly at the Waiouru and Trentham military camps.

The new contract replaces an existing contract and details were still being finalised but Major Christian Dunne said it was not known yet if civilian staff numbers would be affected.

The contract would involve catering, the maintenance of buildings and the army's rolling stock.

Vehicle maintenance would be mixed between civilian and army mechanics and engineers but details of exactly how the contract would work had yet to be finalised, Maj Dunne said.

He said it was too soon to say if jobs would lost.

"It is a little early to comment on that."

He said there would be a transition between the existing contractors and Lockheed.

He said in the past when new tenders were accepted "a number of people just put on a different uniform but it is too early to say at this stage".

The army has 7500 regular and reserve forces and civilian staff and about 500 defence force staff were deployed on multiple peacekeeping operations, United Nations missions and defence exercises.

The army's fleet of more than 500 vehicles includes light armoured vehicles, Pinzgauer light operational vehicles, Unimogs, and transport, service and supply vehicles.

The contract begins in June, after a transition from the current service providers.

The New Zealand Army formerly relied on three separate corps for logistics; the Royal New Zealand Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (RNZEME), the Royal New Zealand Army Ordnance Corps (RNZAOC) and the Royal New Zealand Corps of Transport (RNZCT).

But in December 1996 Major General Piers Reid disbanded those corps and established a new regiment as a fully integrated logistic arm, the Royal New Zealand Army Logistic Regiment.

The largest regiment in the army, its soldiers cover 11 trades including supply technicians who provide quartermaster support for ammunition, fuel, rations, weapons, general stores, spare parts, vehicles and any other mission critical equipment.

It also includes the army's vehicle mechanics, weapons maintenance technicians, electronics technicians, electrical fitters and maintenance fitters, who provide repair and general maintenance of all the army's equipment, including vehicles, radios, night vision devices, general engineering, electrical components and weapons.