Magellan Aerospace has been awarded a contract for repair and overhaul (R&O) of the F404 afterburning turbofan engines that power the Royal Canadian Air Force’s (RCAF) CF-188 Hornet aircraft fleet.
The C$55m ($50.3m) competitively awarded contract has a one-year base performance period and also includes an option for an additional year.
Under the contract, the company will be responsible for maintenance, engineering, material management and provision of field service representatives, and publication support for the CF-188 F404 engine and ancillary components.
Magellan Aerospace president and chief executive officer Jim Butyniec said, "Magellan’s long-standing relationship with the Canadian armed forces is very much the product of providing excellent value in terms of competitive pricing and world class technical experience."
The company has provided CF-188 F404 engine R&O services to the Canadian armed forces for more than 30 years.
Manufactured by GE Aviation, the F404 is a family of afterburning turbofan engines powering multiple aircraft performing a broad spectrum of missions from low-level attack to high-altitude interceptors.
Approximately 4,000 F404 engines are currently in service in 15 countries worldwide, including Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Finland, India, Indonesia, Kuwait, Malaysia, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, South Korea, South Africa and the US.
The twin-engined CF-18 Hornet is a multi-role tactical aircraft designed to support air defence, air superiority, tactical support, training, aerobatic demonstration, aerospace testing and evaluation missions in all weather conditions.
CF-18s have been deployed by the RCAF to support NORAD air sovereignty patrols, for combat during the Gulf War in 1991, the Kosovo War in the late 1990s, and also as the Canadian contribution to the international Libyan no-fly zone in 2011.
Work under the contract is scheduled to be carried out at the company’s facility in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
Image: An F404 engine being tested on the fantail aboard Nimitz-class aircraft carrier, USS Abraham Lincoln. Photo: courtesy of Jeremie M Yoder.
