Johnno
The example is 121. The vehicles are maintained and rebuilt in the Army regional workshops. In accordance with modern management theory those workshops are contracted out, currently to a mob called Transfield but previously Tenix and BAe. The Commonwealth needs the right to pass IP to third parties or you are simply locked in to the vehicle supplier at what ever price they choose. Another example, the classic Hornets and Orions. In Australia they are not maintained by Boeing or Lockheed, they are maintained in RAAF workshops currently contracted to BAe. It you want to apply competitive pressure to maintenance and upgrade costs you have to have access to the IP and be able to pass it to contractors of your choosing.
It is a very messy area but if you don't tie up access to the IP it bites you more often than not as happened on the Collins and now the AWD.
The problem with Collins and now the AWD is that when things go wrong it is hard to clear the decks if you are constrained in who can access the IP. It took years to sort out the Collins IP and drew in Kockums who are just an office in Australia, the then German owners of Kockums and the Swedish government.
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