Boeing Defence Australia has taken on responsibility for the $140 million E-7A Wedgetail sustainment contract from its US-based parent company. Air Vice-Marshal Colin Thorne, head of the DMO’s Aerospace Systems Division, stated that the contract provides engineering, maintenance, spare parts and training support to the RAAF’s Wedgetail aircraft fleet. “Novation [of the contract] to an
The 100th F-35 Lightning II has entered the last stage of final assembly. The CTOL F-35A variant aircraft is due to arrive at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona in 2014, and is one of 126 F-35s currently in production, according to Lockheed Martin. Luke AFB is set to be the largest F-35 base in
Australia has sold “at a discounted rate” an additional five ex-RAAF C‑130H aircraft and associated equipment to Indonesia. “The sale of a further five C-130H transport aircraft will further enhance Indonesia’s capacity to respond to natural disasters and humanitarian crisis,” Minister for Defence Stephen Smith said. A memorandum of sale covering the five aircraft, a
The Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) and Raytheon Australia have signed a new five-year, $72 million remediated follow-on support contract for the ongoing maintenance and repair of the Australian Defence Air Traffic System (ADATS). Head of the DMO’s Electronic Systems Division Michael Aylward said the new contract will realise an estimated $14 million in savings. The contract
Hot on the heels of delivering components to the F-35 program, carbon-fibre composite component manufacturer Quickstep has completed qualification testing required by Lockheed Martin for the production of wing flaps for the C-130J Hercules. Quickstep has now started to manufacture the wing flaps at its Bankstown Airport facility, with deliveries expected to begin during the
The Bell 429s operated under Navy’s Retention and Motivation Initiative 2 (RMI 2) program have been upgraded with a 225kg increased max takeoff weight (to 3,405kg), bringing with it an increase in the helicopter’s payload-range. “With this upgrade, one aircraft can now execute substantially more tasks in a single mission,” RMI contractor Raytheon said in
