10-Yr., EUR 100M to Alenia for NE-3A AWACS Maintenance
(click to view full)
NATO’s shared NE-3A Sentry AWACS fleet act as flying command posts and radar stations, directing aerial operations and providing an overall picture of activity in the air and on the sea. They are crewed by multinational teams, made up of all 16 (soon 15) participating countries. The 18-plane acquisition was signed in 1978, and remains the largest single joint purchase ever made by the alliance. Today, 17 of the 707-based NE-3As remain in operation, flying out of their main base at NAB Geilenkirchen, Germany, and other locations as needed. Ongoing upgrade programs have worked to keep them relatively current.
Finmeccanica’s Alenia Aeronautica recently announced a 10-year, estimated EUR 100 million contract with the IAMCO joint venture, to supply a range of maintenance and upgrades for NATO’s NE-3A AWACS fleet. Within the contract…
Alenia will deliver scheduled Depot Level Maintenance (DLM) and unscheduled Out-Of-Cycle (OOC) inspections, and is also envisaged as providing additional modification and upgrades as required. To date, Alenia Aeronautica has successfully accomplished 25 DLM and 30 OOC visits for the fleet, as well as “several” airframe modifications and system upgrades work packages.
IAMCO is the prime contractor responsible for maintaining the NATO E-3A AWACS and Trainer Cargo Aircraft fleets, and Alenia is one of the 5 founding shareholders with a 20% share. The others are EADS Cassidian, KLM, Sabena Technics TAT Group, and L-3 communications. Alenia Aeronautica.
