The Defence Materiel Organization in support of the Royal Australian Air Force has awarded GE Aviation with a $230 million contract extension, lengthening GE’s support of the GE F404 engine through to 2022.
The GE F404 engines power the RAAF fleet of 71 Classic Hornets stationed in Williamtown, just outside of Newcastle in New South Wales. The 148 F404 engines have flown over 640,000 engine hours since their commissioning in 1985.
According to the media release by GE Australia, the company will continue to manage all off-wing maintenance of the engines, including local and off-site repair, troubleshooting assistance, engineering, warehousing, transportation and logistics planning and management of subcontractors.
“We are pleased to extend the RAAF contract for the maintenance of Classic Hornet F404 engines until 2022. This was the first long-term international military support contract for our business, and is set to be the longest and most comprehensive in the GE Aviation military service business,” said GE Aviation Regional Executive, Max York.
“The F404 and the F414 engines we supply to the RAAF are recognised as the leading engines for combat aircraft globally. Our defence partners operate in challenging environments and we look forward to supporting the F404 engines for the next seven years and beyond.”
RAAF and GE have signed their first contract in 2008. Since then, the F404 have flown over 100,000 engine hours.
GE Aviation, an operating unit of GE, is a global provider of jet and turboprop engines, components and integrated systems for commercial, military, business and general aviation aircraft. The company has a global service network to support these offerings.
