Maintaining Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft engines
February 3, 2017 | By MRO Magazine
Gatineau, Que. – Following an open and transparent competition, the Honourable Judy M. Foote, Minister of Public Services and Procurement, and the Honourable Harjit S. Sajjan, Minister of National Defence, have announced the awarding of a contract of $45 million to StandardAero, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, for the maintenance of T56 engines for Canada’s CP-140 Auroras and CC-130H Hercules aircraft, and a second contract of $45 million to Magellan Aerospace Corporation, of Mississauga, Ontario, for the maintenance of F404 engines for Canada’s CF-18 Hornets.
The government recently announced the way forward in replacing its fleet of CF-18 fighter jets as well as its fixed-wing search and rescue aircraft. While work continues on securing these replacements, these investments will maintain existing aircraft.
These maintenance contracts are for an initial period of four years and three months. Services will include repair and overhaul of the aircraft engines, the management, coordination and integration of materials and information, as well as engineering work and the management of technical publications.
While these flexible, performance-based contracts have a preliminary value of $45 million, they have been designed to meet the varying needs of the Canadian Armed Forces by allowing for the total contract value to be adjusted each year based on past year expenditures, as well as anticipatory expenditures for the upcoming year.
Following the initial contract period, the companies have the potential to have their contracts extended until the fleets are retired.
These contracts are among the first that reflect a more flexible, cost-effective approach to equipment maintenance and support. Under a recently-established Sustainment Initiative, the government is ensuring that support contracts and programs are flexible enough to respond to changing operational needs, while at the same time delivering best value for money. Improving the cost-effectiveness of equipment support contracts was a principal theme of a recent Auditor General of Canada report tabled last November.
Under Canada’s Industrial and Technological Benefits Policy, both companies are required to invest in the Canadian economy equal to the value of their respective contracts. These investments will include a high level of work performed directly in Canada on the engines and other research and development initiatives. This is expected to create and maintain high-value jobs and economic growth in Canada.
Source: Government of Canada
