The New Zealand government has moved quickly to dispose of its eight remaining ex-RNZAF A-4K Skyhawks, placing a Request for Proposals (RFP) online through the Government Electronic Tenders Service.
Defence Minister Wayne Mapp said the package includes eight complete Skyhawk airframes, up to 20 spare engines and various other parts and support equipment, including training documents. “This is on an ‘as is, where is’ basis. Interested parties have about four weeks to get their offers in,” Mapp said.
Interested parties must respond to the RFP by 4pm NZT on May 16.
The recent announcement follows the government’s April 8 decision to donate nine of the RNZAF’s 17 Skyhawks to various museums across New Zealand, plus one to the Australian Fleet Air Arm Museum in Nowra, NSW.
Retired in December 2001, the Skyhawk fleet has been in storage at RNZAF Woodbourne since early 2002. Initially hangared, the aircraft were recently moved outside where they have been subjected to a formal maintenance program of weather coatings and various internal treatments.
Meanwhile, Mapp said that the fate of 17 RNZAF Aermacchi MB339CB trainers would “likely follow a similar tender process, in due course”.
