The UK Ministry of Defence’s Defence Equipment & Support (DE&S) has signed a £2.6m maintenance contract for the C-17A Globemaster aircraft fleet.
The contract aims to increase maintenance support, which will boost the availability of the eight British Royal Air Force (RAF) Globemasters.
Work carried out under the contract is expected to generate 25 jobs at RAF Brize Norton.
The long-range transport aircraft is designed to operate near the potential area for combat, peacekeeping and humanitarian missions around the world.
In-country support for the Globemaster is provided by Boeing, which includes assistance to the 99 Squadron, preventative maintenance and local periodic maintenance in the UK.
This is on top of the extensive maintenance work carried out at Boeing in San Antonio, Texas, US, once in five years.
DE&S C-17 delivery team leader Darren Astall said: “This new contract creates 25 skilled jobs and ensures the UK’s C-17 aircraft will continue to be maintained by highly experienced technicians. This is great news for the prosperity of RAF Brize Norton and the surrounding Oxfordshire area.
“It is also a great example of how we work closely with industry to deliver specialised support to our customer, the RAF, while creating valuable job opportunities.
“A C-17 Availability Report recently concluded that additional contractor support was required, so I am delighted we are now meeting the enduring needs of our customer with this arrangement.”
