The Defence Aviation Repair Agency, better known as DARA, was an executive agency of the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in states ...

, responsible for the maintenance and repair of

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

, Army and the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

's aircraft. It became part of the

Defence Support Group The Defence Support Group (DSG) was an executive agency and wholly owned trading fund of the Ministry of Defence in the United Kingdom. It was established on 1 April 2008 by the merger of the Defence Aviation Repair Agency and the Army Base Rep ...

from 1 April 2008. Part of the Defence Support Group (DSG) was sold to Babcock on 31 March 2015 while the remainder became th
Defence Electronics and Components Agency (DECA
on 1 April 2015. DARA, which had four sites across the UK, was the biggest government-owned aerospace repair facility in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

. Since a distinct

U-turn A U-turn in driving refers to performing a 180° rotation to reverse the direction of travel. It is called a "U-turn" because the maneuver looks like the letter U. In some areas, the maneuver is illegal, while in others, it is treated as a m ...

in MOD policy from centralised repair expertise to diversified line repair, DARA's operations were either scheduled to be closed or under review, with an intended strategy to privatise the various remaining divisions.

Background

Launched on 1 April 1999, post the Government's

Strategic Defence Review The Strategic Defence Review (SDR) was a British policy document produced in July 1998 by the Labour Government that had gained power a year previously. Then Secretary of State for Defence, George Robertson, set out the initial defence policy of t ...

, DARA brought together the RAF Maintenance Group Defence Agency (MGDA) and the Naval Aircraft Repair Organisation (NARO). DARA offered the capability to completely strip, replace, repair and rebuild aircraft from systems, components and equipment to whole aircraft, for both military and commercial organisations. DARA was established as a

Trading Fund A trading fund is an executive agency, government department or often simply a part of a department, that enables the department to handle its own revenues and expenses separately from overall government finances and more like a business, as opposed ...

on 1 April 2001.

Operations

DARA had centres of excellence across Fixed Wing, Rotary and Engines, Electronics and Components. Its Chief Executive was Archie Hughes:

Locations

* DARA Head Office -

RAF St Athan Ministry of Defence St Athan or MOD St Athan (Welsh: Maes awyr Sain Tathan), formerly known as RAF St Athan, is a large Ministry of Defence unit near the village of St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, southern Wales. It was the designated site for ...

, near

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

* DARA Engines -

Gosport Gosport ( ) is a town and non-metropolitan borough on the south coast of Hampshire, South East England. At the 2011 Census, its population was 82,662. Gosport is situated on a peninsula on the western side of Portsmouth Harbour, opposite t ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants) is a ceremonial county, ceremonial and non-metropolitan county, non-metropolitan counties of England, county in western South East England on the coast of the English Channel. Home to two major English citi ...

- business closed March 2007 * DARA Fast Jets - RAF St Athan - business closed March 2007 * DARA Large Aircraft - at

is the UK centre for deep maintenance of the

Vickers VC10 The Vickers VC10 is a mid-sized, narrow-body long-range British jet airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs (Aircraft) Ltd and first flown at Brooklands, Surrey, in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance route ...

transport and refuelling aircraft, working as the MRO subcontractor to

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...

. * DARA Rotary - Fleetlands,

: the UK's centre of depth maintenance for Chinook,

Lynx A lynx is a type of wild cat. Lynx may also refer to: Astronomy * Lynx (constellation) * Lynx (Chinese astronomy) * Lynx X-ray Observatory, a NASA-funded mission concept for a next-generation X-ray space observatory Places Canada * Lynx, Ontar ...

and Sea King

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forward, backward and laterally. These attributes ...

s, working in partnership with UK MOD Integrated Project Teams,

AgustaWestland AgustaWestland was an Anglo-Italian helicopter design and manufacturing company, which was a wholly owned subsidiary of Finmeccanica (now known as Leonardo). It was formed in July 2000 as an Anglo-Italian multinational company, when Finmeccanica ...

and

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

. DARA Rotary has been sold to

Vector Aerospace Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematic ...

, along with DARA Components at Almondbank (see below). * DARA Electronics -

RAF Sealand MoD Sealand (formerly RAF Sealand), is a Ministry of Defence installation in Flintshire, in the northeast corner of Wales, close to the border with England. It is a former Royal Air Force station, active between 1916 and 2006. Under defence cu ...

Deeside Deeside ( cy, Glannau Dyfrdwy) is the name given to a predominantly industrial conurbation of towns and villages in Flintshire and Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the ...

Flintshire , settlement_type = County , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_shield = Arms of Flint ...

* DARA Components -

Almondbank Almondbank is a village in Perth and Kinross, Scotland, about northwest of Perth. With the building of Royal Naval Aircraft Workshops, Almondbank grew significantly during and after the Second World War. RNAS Almondbank The establishment of Ro ...

: provides the capability for repair, modification and testing of an extensive range of hydraulic and transmission components found in both air and land systems for the UK MOD and civilian applications. This business also branched into the commercial sector (See Almondbank page).

History

From the outset, DARA seemed beset by a series of ongoing battles between Ministers, the MOD, the RAF and regional interests, especially the Welsh around RAF St Athan. DARA was formed around a strategy of integrating RAF, Navy, MOD and private expertise to increase efficiencies of aircraft maintenance and repair to the RAF and Navy, and hence reducing costs. The plan was built around a key base to form a centre of excellence, chosen as the existing RAF Maintenance base at St Athan, to create "factory" levels of expertise. RAF St Athan at DARA's peak employed 2,500 people, over two thirds of DARA's 3,500 employees. In December 2000, then

Welsh Secretary The secretary of state for Wales ( cy, ysgrifennydd gwladol Cymru), also referred to as the Welsh secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with responsibility for the Offi ...

Paul Murphy and

Armed Forces Minister The minister of state for the armed forces is a mid-level ministerial position at the Ministry of Defence in the Government of the United Kingdom. When of Minister of State rank (until the appointment of James Heappey as a Parliamentary Under-S ...

John Spellar John Francis Spellar (born 5 August 1947) is a British politician who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Warley, formerly Warley West, since 1992. A member of the Labour Party, he previously represented Birmingham Northfield from 198 ...

met to discuss the future of RAF St Athan, following concerns expressed by John Smith, MP for the

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol C ...

. They announced the base's future was "secure".

Project Red Dragon

In March 2002, John Smith again asked for further assurances on progress around Project Red Dragon, a proposed plan to co-develop RAF St Athan as an aerospace centre of excellence as a public/private partnership. The government partners included the MOD, DARA and the

Welsh Development Agency Welsh Development Agency (WDA; cy, Awdurdod Datblygu Cymru) was an executive agency (or QUANGO) and later designated an Assembly Sponsored Public Body (ASPB). Established in 1976, it was tasked with rescuing the ailing Welsh economy by encour ...

, who would work in partnership to develop the base. In March 2003 DARA and Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram confirmed that DARA and the MOD would go ahead with the hi-tech maintenance centre - securing 3,300 Welsh jobs. Additional jobs would be created by allowing access to the super-hangar by commercial aviation partners, which

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English language, English and () in Welsh language, Welsh, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes ...

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

Rhodri Morgan Hywel Rhodri Morgan (29 September 1939 – 17 May 2017) was a Welsh Labour politician who was the First Minister of Wales and the Leader of Welsh Labour from 2000 to 2009. He was also the Assembly Member for Cardiff West from 1999 to 2011 and t ...

said could potentially create a further 4,000 jobs. Welsh Secretary

Peter Hain Peter Gerald Hain, Baron Hain (born 16 February 1950), is a British politician who served as Secretary of State for Northern Ireland from 2005 to 2007, Secretary of State for Work and Pensions from 2007 to 2008 and twice as Secretary of State ...

said it was "superb news". Project Red Dragon would replace RAF St Athan's existing repair centre - spread out across a site - and create a new, state-of-the-art facility. Red Dragon had two unique features which set it apart from other military aviation maintenance contracts: *Construction of a "super-hangar", which will include 47 bays to work on fighter aircraft. The bays could be reconfigured to allow engineering teams to also work on heavy-lift, fixed-wing aircraft as well as heavy-lift helicopters such as the Chinook. *The only Western military facility which would be able to develop its aviation maintenance arm using finance raised from the private sector

Contract loss and review

In October 2003, the

Transport and General Workers' Union The Transport and General Workers' Union (TGWU or T&G) was one of the largest general trade unions in the United Kingdom and Ireland – where it was known as the Amalgamated Transport and General Workers' Union (ATGWU) to differentiate its ...

Deputy General Secretary

Jack Dromey John Eugene Joseph Dromey (29 September 1948 – 7 January 2022) was a British politician and trade unionist who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Birmingham Erdington from 2010 until his death. A member of the Labour Party, he was deput ...

said the government was considering abandoning Project Red Dragon. Dromey said it would be "outrageous" for the MOD to back away from the scheme now it had been given the government's blessing: ''"That would be absolutely wrong - not in the best interests of the Royal Air Force, not in the best interests of a loyal workforce."'' In March 2004, DARA lost out on a £150 million contract to upgrade the GR7 Harrier to GR9 specification, to upgrade the plane and allow additional life cycle until replacement by the F-35 "Lightning" Joint Strike Fighter. The MOD concluded that the bid by the RAF based out of

RAF Cottesmore Royal Air Force Station Cottesmore or more simply RAF Cottesmore is a former Royal Air Force station in Rutland, England, situated between Cottesmore and Market Overton. On 15 December 2009, Defence Secretary Bob Ainsworth announced that the ...

made more sense from both an operational and cost view point. In March 2004 DARA announced the loss of 550 jobs at RAF St Athan. 360 posts went as part of streamlining to make DARA more efficient and better able to compete with the private sector for lucrative aircraft repair contracts. The second and more controversial reason is that DARA lost out to the RAF for a contract, worth £150m, to upgrade the airforce's fleet of ageing Harrier jump jets.

Privatisation

In December 2004, the MOD decided that DARA's Fast Jets and Engines businesses would be closed by April 2007, whilst the Rotary, Components and Large Aircraft businesses were offered for potential sale to see whether this would result in better value for money for UK defence and improved prospects for employees. Effectively, this was the announcement of a

in strategy by the MOD to centralise aircraft maintenance, and the break-up of DARA by privatisation of its various divisions. On 14 April 2005 the new Project Red Dragon super-hangar opened. Jim Cooper, General Secretary of Prospect, the union representing specialist civilian staff in the MOD, called for plans to privatise DARA to be scrapped. Cooper said Dara was in a perilous position, as it was in danger of losing the facilities which were designed to make it a world-class aviation centre. A spokesman for the MOD said that work on the

Tornado F3 The Panavia Tornado Air Defence Variant (ADV) was a long-range, twin-engine interceptor version of the swing-wing Panavia Tornado. The aircraft's first flight was on 27 October 1979, and it entered service with the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 198 ...

would remain at St Athan for the jet's life-span, but that the situation after that was not yet known: ''"Unless additional work can be found, it is unlikely we can maintain a viable business at St Athan beyond 2008/9."'' On 10 October 2006 the RAF showcased the first production GR9 Harrier at

. Defence Procurement Minister Adam Ingram said the jet will eventually be phased out by 2015 when the new F-35 "Lightning" Joint Strike Fighter arrives in the next decade. The Fast Jet and Engines businesses closed in March 2007. On 22 May 2007 it was announced by the

Minister of State for Defence Equipment and Support The Minister of State for Defence Procurement is, as a Minister of State, a mid-level defence minister in the Ministry of Defence of the British Government. The current incumbent of the post, Conservative MP Alex Chalk, was appointed in October 202 ...

Lord Drayson Paul Rudd Drayson, Baron Drayson (born 5 March 1960), is a British businessman, amateur racing driver and Labour politician. He was Minister of Science in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills until May 2010, where he replaced I ...

, that DARA would be merged with ABRO, the

Army Base Repair Organisation The Army Base Repair Organisation (ABRO) was an executive agency which reported to the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence. It provided engineering, repair and re-manufacturing services to the British Armed Forces and also to the police and so ...

.ABRO - Engineers of Reliability
It was also stated that the VC10 maintenance unit at RAF St. Athan would not now be privatised. The new

was established from 1 April 2008.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Aerospace companies of the United Kingdom British companies established in 1999 Companies of Wales Defence companies of the United Kingdom Defunct executive agencies of the United Kingdom government Military units and formations disestablished in 2008 Defence agencies of the United Kingdom Organisations based in the Vale of Glamorgan St Athan