Italian Air Force Awards Three-Year Logistics Support Contract for C-130J Aircraft

Released on Thursday, October 04, 2007

Alenia Aeronautica, a Finmeccanica company � head of a temporary grouping of companies formed with Lockheed Martin and AVIO � has signed with the Logistics Command of the Italian Air Force a three-year contract to provide technical and logistics support to the Italian Air Force's fleet of C-130J transport aircraft.

The contract, worth a total of 97 million Euro � to be paid by the Italian Air Force over the four financial years from 2007 to 2010 � relates to a fully integrated service aimed at providing the organisation's C- 130J fleet with technical and logistical support that continues to gain in effectiveness.

In particular, for support activities, Alenia Aeronautica will be responsible for managing the supply chain and supplying spare parts, components repair and support engineering activities; US company Lockheed Martin, which designed and manufactured the aircraft, will provide technical and engineering support, as well as repairing components produced in the US; AVIO, the Italian leader in aircraft propulsion systems, will be responsible for providing support and technical assistance for the engines.

The contract also includes an option that the Italian Air Force can exercise from next spring, namely for the companies to provide technical and logistics support for the C-130J flight simulator at the 46th wing based at Pisa Air Base.