KUALA LUMPUR: Aircraft Inspection, Repair & Overhaul Depot Sdn Bhd (AIROD) has won a five-year contract from the United States government for the maintenance of KC-130J aircraft of the US Marine Corps Transport Refueler Squadron based in Iawakuni, Japan.
AIROD, in a statement here today, said the first aircraft is expected to be flown in here for maintenance in January next year.
The company mainly provides aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul services for the Royal Malaysian Air Force.
It previously also worked for the US Air Force under another US government contract.
The statement said the newly-awarded contract will also identify potential in-service repair workload which may develop during the life of the contract.
The in-service repair would cover other services, including component/part repairs, corrosion control, rework, drop-in repair, manufacturing parts and such for forward deployed US Navy and Marine Corps C-130 aircraft outside of the scope of organisational-level maintenance abilities.
According to AIROD, several aviation partner firms in Malaysia would also be providing a supporting role to the programme.
Col. Anna M. Morris, the US Defence Contract Management Agency (DCMA) Pacific Commander, was quoted in the statement as saying DCMA Pacific looked forward to teaming up with the Fleet Readiness Centre Western Pacific (FRCWP) and AIROD to deliver the KC-130J aircraft to the warfighter.
“We will oversee and manage the balance between cost, schedule and delivery to achieve the desired defence capability. Our objective is delivery this acquisition platform to the warfighters in the most efficient manner possible and within the terms of the contract,” the commander said.
FRCWP Commanding Officer Lt Col Thomas A. Atkinson said his team received a warm welcome from AIROD during its post-award conference in August.
“We are impressed with AIROD’s and the National Aerospace & Defence Industries Group’s depot maintenance knowledge, experience and technical ability on the C-130 aircraft.
“We feel fortunate to be partnering with AIROD and through this contract have greatly increased our ability to support the aircraft readiness requirements of the US Navy and Marine Corps,” he added.
FRCWP’s C-130 Program Management Technical Representative Timothy Campbell said: “AIROD brings great skills and field repair capabilities to FRCWP and the KC-130J fleet in the Pacific.
“Their ability to deploy repair teams around the world for emergent repairs will return valuable assets to operational capability in minimal time.” – BERNAMA