VALPARAISO, Chile, Dec. 2 (UPI) -- Chile's shipbuilding and repair organization, ASMAR, has extended BAE Systems' contract for support services for the country's Type 22 and Type 23 frigates.
The agreement follows an initial three-year contract signed in 2007 and guarantees a core level of repair and maintenance support to the frigates, with the scope to provide additional platform and combat systems equipment upgrade work to the Armada de Chile as required.
The agreement also seeks to transfer technology and skills, enabling ASMAR to progressively increase the proportion of work it conducts independently in Chile.
"We will work side by side with ASMAR to enhance its capability to deliver complex warship support and assist in the re-equipment of its workshops at Talcahuano dockyard," said Dean McCumiskey, BAE Systems' managing director for Europe and the Americas.
"We also have plans already underway to provide training for Chilean personnel in the U.K. This will enable ASMAR to develop further skills required to undertake complex supply chain management, dockyard management and fleet maintenance programs."
