Marshall extends French Air Force C-130 engineering support
Image courtesy Marshall
The most recent extension builds on an initial four year contract that has already been extended once by a period of two years. The awarding body is the Service Industriel de l’Aéronautique (SIAé), a state-owned maintenance organisation.
Marshall will provide engineering support for the C-130H’s maintenance, repair and overhaul, with work centred around SIAé’s facility in Clermont, France. The contract also covers the ongoing provision of C-130 parts and repair kits manufactured in-house by Marshall under exclusive Authority to Manufacture permissions granted by Lockheed Martin.
The extension bolsters Marshall’s well-established relationship with the French Air Force, which dates back to the initial contract award in December 2017. During and following the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union, Marshall continued to provide support for the air force.
Mark Hewer, Director of Aero Engineering for Marshall said: "Thanks to our close working relationship and frequency of contact with SIAé, we are able to understand emergent needs and act on them immediately, drawing equally on our platform expertise and our engineering excellence.”
Reflecting the Hercules’ perennial role as the backbone of airborne logistical support for NATO member nations, the French fleet has notably seen action in military operations in Africa, including participation in Operation Serval in Mali, and has also been involved in humanitarian missions throughout the Middle East and North Africa.
The two oldest aircraft in the fleet, both from 1975, were initially owned by Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), but were relocated to France when the country collapsed in the 1990s.
