Australia has been chosen to provide Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul and Upgrade for significantly more componentry of the Joint Strike Fighter in the Asia Pacific Region. This is yet another boost to Australia’s involvement in the program and a major show of confidence in our nation’s defence industry.
The Minister for Defence, the Hon Christopher Pyne MP and the Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Steven Ciobo MP, welcomed the major announcement and said it was a clear indication of Australian defence industry’s global competitiveness.
“Australian companies have been awarded 343 out of a possible 388 components in the latest tranche of assignments – a significant achievement and a major boost for our economy.”
“This announcement again proves that our defence industry can equal and beat the best in the world when it comes to sustaining complex aviation assets.”
“I welcome the United States Government further commitment to Australia as a regional hub for the maintenance of the F-35 JSF,” Minister Pyne said.
The Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon Steven Ciobo MP, said the announcement demonstrated the strength of Australia’s defence industry.
“It is clear that Australia will be in prime position to further expand as a regional F-35 maintenance hub and build on its global capability into the future,” Minister Ciobo said.
“Already local industry has secured more than AU$1.3 billion in contracts from F-35 design and production work, resulting in opportunities for Australian industry beyond the F-35 program.”
“The announcement is the next step in opportunities opening up a market for aircraft component repair, which will be part of the F-35 Global Support Solution and cements Australia as a key strategic partner in the global F-35 enterprise,” Minister Ciobo said.
This result adds to Australian industry’s success in winning F-35 assignments for:
- Air Vehicle Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul and Upgrade for the Southern Pacific Region
- Propulsion System Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul and Upgrade for the Asia-Pacific Region
- Component Maintenance, Repair, Overhaul and Upgrade of 64 out of 65 Tier 1 components
- Asia-Pacific Regional Warehouse.
For more information about the Australian F-35A Project, visit: www.defence.gov.au/casg/JSF
A list of successful companies is below.
| Repair Technology Group / Number of parts assigned | Description | Lead companies |
| A / 16 parts | Avionics not Tested on Digital Lockheed Martin (LM) Star Automatic Test Equipment (ATE) | BAE Systems Australia |
| B2 / 8 parts | Avionics Tested on Radio Frequency LM Star ATE | Northrop Grumman Australia |
| C / 75 parts | Aircraft Composites | Northrop Grumman Australia |
| E / 15 parts | Electric Components | General Electric Aviation & MOOG Australia |
| F / 31 parts | Valve | RUAG Australia |
| EO / 1 part | Electro Optical | Northrop Grumman Australia |
| G / 25 parts | Auxiliary Power System | RUAG Australia |
| H / 113 parts | Hydraulics | RUAG Australia & MOOG Australia |
| L / 34 parts | Landing Gear | RUAG Australia |
| M / 18 parts | Munitions / Weapons | BAE Systems Australia & NIOA |
| P / 2 parts | Pumps (UTAS) | RUAG Australia |
| S / 1 part | Life Support | Survitec Group |
| T / 4 parts | Canopy System | BAE Systems Australia |
