Babcock wins French air base ground support equipment contract
The deal marks Babcock’s first major French ground sector contract. (Photo: Babcock)
The French Ministry of Armed Forces’ Aeronautical Maintenance Department has awarded Babcock a 10-year multimillion-Euro contract for the global support of air transport and aircraft equipment, Babcock announced on 19 December.
The deal marks Babcock’s first major French land sector contract and its UK business will support it by capability transfer.
Babcock said France is ‘a focus country’ for the business, and the new award extends its support for the French Armed Forces.
Related Articles
France and UK eye mutual benefits from potential RAF secondments
France favours air force in 2023 defence budget
UPDATED: FCAS is ‘on the way to first flight’, says Airbus
Babcock, AES and TLD (part of Alvest Group) will set up operations at five military bases in Bordeaux-Beauséjour, France, in the first half of 2023, but technicians will work on a total of 26 air force, navy and army bases both in France and abroad.
Babcock will be responsible for fleet management, including rationalisation and renewal and maintenance of a large part of the equipment.
AES will be in charge of logistical support, supply and delivery of spare parts, whereas TLD will provide specific high-value-added equipment.
Pierre Basquin, CEO of Babcock France said in a 19 December statement: 'This first GSE contract is an important and strategic step for Babcock in France, and we are proud that the Aeronautical Maintenance Department has trusted us to provide this essential service.
‘This new contract places us in a good position for future opportunities in the land sector and with the French armed forces. We are looking forward to this new challenge.’
More from Air Warfare
-
Live-fire trials clear way for Spike NLOS missile integration with latest Apache helicopter
Spike NLOS missiles fired from an AH-64E V6 attack helicopter successfully hit stationary targets in a live-fire test at Yuma Proving Ground.
-
Turkey develops sanction-busting system to secure naval helicopters
A newly developed system for securing and transferring helicopters on the flight decks of Turkish I-class frigates is being rolled out to replace the Canadian-supplied ASIST equipment.
-
Aerosonde UAV makes first operational flight from USS Miguel Keith
The Textron UAS is also deployed on three other USN ships.