BAE Systems and engineering partner L-3 MAS Canada have completed a maintenance contract intended to support a fleet of the Royal Australian Air Force, Australian Defence Magazine reported Friday.
The companies worked to maintain and add structural refurbishments to the F/A-18 Classic Hornet fleet to keep the planes combat ready before the Joint Strike Fighter will be used by 2018, the report said.
“This has been a major program of work for our company that started in June 2003,” Steve Drury, Australia director at BAE Systems, said in the report.
“In that time, our skilled workforce maintained 65 of the RAAF’s 71 Classic Hornets and completed over one million hours of maintenance,” Drury added.
Drury told Australian Defence Magazine that BAE Systems intended to address cost and efficiency concerns under the Hornet maintenance and modifications support vehicle.