French Air Force Renews AWACS Support Contract

The contract for through life support for the French Air Force's fleet of AWACS aircraft has been renewed for a further five years. Air France and SIMMAD, the French Defense Ministry's Aircraft Through Life Support Organization, have renewed the through life support contract for the fleet of four AWACS surveillance aircraft operated by the French Air Force for a further five years, effective 1 September 2011. Guaranteeing all-round aircraft support during Mid-Life Upgrade (MLU) operations, Through-life support covers the complete array of AWACS engineering support services. AFI KLM E&M will accordingly be responsible for technical and documentary support for the aircraft and its mission-specific systems, painting, and heavy maintenance concurrently with Mid-Life Upgrade work, maintaining the related engineering resources, and providing IT and logistics support services. Two related projects will also by continued under the terms of the contract, namely the digitization of all technical documentation, and the integration of airworthiness monitoring into the AWACS computer systems.