CANBERRA, Australia, March 27 (UPI) -- Australia's Department of Defense says it is negotiating a "landmark" six-year contract that will be the lynchpin of logistics efficiency.
The preferred tenderer for the new Land Materiel Maintenance Service contract is Transfield Services of Australia, an asset management services company.
"While the negotiations to finalize the contract progress, (the Department of)Defense has entered into an early services agreement with Transfield Services to enable initial transition activities to begin in the lead up to the new contract taking effect from 1 July 2013," it said. "The LMM Services contract arrangements will replace three existing contracts for maintenance services which are due to expire on 30 June 2013."
The LMM contract is for the provision of maintenance for land-based assets, such as military vehicles and general equipment.
The Department of Defense said if a contractual arrangement with Transfield Services cannot be reached, it "reserves the right to suspend or terminate negotiations" with Transfield and negotiate with other bidders.
The new contract is expected to be awarded before the end of June.
