French C-130H Hercules will receive support for $51 million

By TOC

PARIS, (BM) – From 2018, the maintenance in operational condition [MOC] of 14 C-130H Hercules tactical transport aircraft of the French Air Force and Space [aAE] is provided by the Atelier Industrielle de l’Aéronautique [AIA] from Clermont-Ferrand. This support is under a contract received in 2015 [i.e., before establishing the Air Navigation Services Division], the amount of which remains confidential.

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All with a commitment to result, the Industrial Aeronautics Service is committed to ensuring 10 of the 14 aircraft are accessible at all times.

Previously, the Portuguese company OGMA provided the MOC of these aircraft, which received a contract in 2012, thanks to an offer considered more competitive. But the availability of the C-130H struggled to take off: it was 26.20% in 2016, despite planned equipment maintenance loans [EPM] of around € 40 million each year.

Spare parts are required to keep these C-130H Hercules in flight. Hence the contract that the Pentagon has just awarded to Lockheed-Martin, the manufacturer of these devices, for “long-term support for the Air Force’s C-130 aircraft.” The Department of Defense has published the announcement of the award on May 5, opex360 reports.

Speaking of “increased fixed costs” [a formula that is considered advantageous from the buyer’s point of view] and amounting to $ 51 million [EUR 42 million], this contract covers the supply of spare parts as well as the sending of technicians to France other services not described in detail.

“The works will be carried out in Bae Aerienne [sic], France; and Marietta, Georgia, and is expected to be completed on January 1, 2023. “

Concerning the latter, the Defense Cooperation Agency [DSCA] issued an opinion in September 2020 to give the green light to the sale of components intended for their maintenance for an amount estimated at EUR 290 million. Then it was about four turboprop engines AE-2100D and various electronic and communication equipment. The contract was then to be entrusted to Lockheed-Martin.

However, the 14 C-130Hs in operation, acquired since 1986, are currently the subject of an extensive modernization program entrusted to Collins Aerospace France. The work focuses mainly on these devices’ avionics, with analog dials being replaced by multifunction displays and other digital systems belonging to the flight range 2.

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