Millies 2017: Innovation Award

The winner of the Military Awards 2017 ‘Innovation’ category is Warrant Officer Paul Moonan, introduced a new firefighting vehicle to solve a unique problem on the deck of HMS Queen Elizabeth.

In 2014, WO1 Paul Moonan identified that to enable the future Lightning II aircraft and helicopters to operate safely around the flight decks of the new carriers, a mobile fire-fighting solution was required.

At the ceremony after WO1 Moonan had been announced as the winner, he said:

"It's fantastic. I didn't envisage at any stage that my idea would take off so much."

The problem arose when trying to find a way to decrease firefighter response times to 30 seconds at all points on the Queen Elizabeth Class carriers’ 4-acre flight decks.

WO1 Paul Moonan said: “The main problem we had was, we have a 30 second response time to any aircraft crash or incident on that flight deck.

“We had to be able to apply foam to that incident within that 30 seconds.”

The previous tool used by firefighters was the SF90, a portable foam fire extinguisher.

However, WO1 Moonan said that for a ship the size of the new carriers, you would need “three hulking great rugby players to be able to run up and down that flight deck and drag that SF90.”

The Solution

WO1 Moonan quickly identified that an already existing vehicle used on flight decks could be adapted and enhanced to provide a quick and effective fire-fighting capability.

The resulting fire fighting vehicle (the NMATT firefighting module) is adaptable and represents good value for money for UK Defence.

Petty Officer Lee Fitzgerald, an aircraft handler said: “Nice and simple – it’s got to be because you’ve got a lot of things going on when an aircraft crashes, so you’ve got to be able to do it second nature basically.”

Chief Petty Officer Paul Ranson, a training manager of flight deck operations said: “It’s really reassuring. It’s the next step, it’s sort of a leap from what we’ve had in the past.”

Realising that the delivery of HMS Queen Elizabeth was rapidly approaching, and that the introduction of new equipment in the MOD can be a lengthy and costly process, he engaged with the appropriate teams both in and outside of the MOD and drove both the design specification and delivery timeline of the enhanced vehicle to meet the first aircraft recovery to QEC.

The original budget was circa £5m but WO1 Moonan was able to save the MOD over £3.5m through innovation of existing equipment.

WO1 Moonan said: “I’m very proud actually.”

“It’s probably one of the biggest achievements of my life.”

The enhanced vehicle that WO1 Moonan created will make operating aircraft to and from the massive flight decks of the QEC carriers safer for many years to come.