Britain's Ministry of Defense reports it has offered contracts to three companies to help transform the way it acquires and supports military equipment.

The contractors -- CH2M Hill, Bechtel and PwC -- would work alongside personnel of the ministry's Defense Equipment and Support organization to ensure that DE&S can reach its goal of becoming a 'best in class' acquisition organization, the Ministry of Defense said.

"The contracts we have offered to CH2M Hill, Bechtel and PwC represent a key milestone in the work to transform DE&S into a higher performing project delivery organization," said Minister for Defence Equipment, Technology and Support Philip Dunne.

"Once their work gets underway, we can expect the MSPs (managed service providers) to provide DE&S with some of the best private-sector skills available to improve even further our ability to procure defense equipment and support as cost effectively as possible."

CH2M Hill has been offered the contract for project delivery in the Land and Joint Enabler domains; Bechtel was offered the contract for the Air and Fleet domains; PwC's contract offer was in the area of human resources.

The performance periods of the contracts and their values were not disclosed.

The Ministry expects the awards to be signed by the end of the month.