Page 12 - Australian Defence Magazine April 2020

12 NEWS REVIEW
INDUSTRY UPDATE
APRIL 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
BDA TO OVERHAUL MALAYSIAN HORNETS
NIGEL PITTAWAY | SINGAPORE
LEFT: Two Malaysian F/A-18D Hornets will each undergo servicing activities with BDA at their Williamtown facility.
also understands BDA’s existing contract with Defence will end in December 2021.
“It would be premature for Boeing to com- ment,” the spokesperson said. “But we stand ready to support our regional customers.”
A Defence spokesperson added, “Malay- sia is a valued strategic partner of Austra- lia, and a close relationship exists between the Australian and Malaysian Defence Forces. Defence is aware that the Royal Malaysian Air Force is exploring the po- tential servicing of their F/A-18D Hornet aircraft in Australia [and] is very support- ive of Australian Defence industry efforts to export products and services and under- take work in Australia to support our inter- national partners, [but] it is premature for Defence to comment further at this stage.”
Malaysia ordered eight twin-seat F/A- 18Ds in December 1993 and, after being initially used in the US to support train- ing, the aircraft were delivered in 1997. They are operated by the RMAF’s No.18 Sqn (18 Skn) at Butterworth in Penang.
In-country support is provided by the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) - initially McDonnell Douglas, before it was merged with Boeing in August 1997. Boe- ing continues to support Malaysia’s Hornet fleet at Butterworth, including the comple- tion of a major fleet upgrade in 2017.
BOEING Defence Australia (BDA) is set to overhaul at least two, and as many as eight F/A-18D Hornets belonging to the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF).
Speaking at the Singapore 2020 Air- show, an RMAF source indicated that two Hornets would arrive at Williamtown in mid-April. They will be supported on their journey by an Airbus A400M transport aircraft, which also has air to air refuel- ling (AAR) capabilities.
ADM understands the two Hornets will each undergo 9I servicing activities with
BDA at their Williamtown facility, which is a regular scheduled maintenance inter- val conducted every 10 years. If the deal goes ahead as currently planned, it will be the first time that BDA’s Classic Hornet support organisation has performed major overhaul activities for a foreign customer.
BDA declined to comment on the report, but the news would no doubt be welcome for both the company and the Hunter re- gion as the Classic Hornet is now being retired from RAAF service in favour of the Lockheed Martin F-35A Lightning II. ADM
XTEK OPENS NEW FACILITY IN ADELAIDE
XTEK has opened a new ballistic manufacturing centre in SA.
The investment in the manufac- turing centre allows XTEK to capi- talise on its high margin ballistic armour and advanced composite solutions. The company is looking to expand into the US market via the acquisition of HighCom Ar- mour.
The company has successfully completed comprehensive testing and validation procedures for the manufacturing centre.
“The completion marks a signifi- cant milestone and value inflec- tion point for XTEK, enabling us to produce commercial quantities
of our high-quality ballistic prod- ucts,” XTEK Managing Director, Philippe Odouard said.
“We continue to work towards commercial scale orders, progress- ing the long-standing relationships we have developed with potential major customers globally as they near the end of the testing and validation process.
“We expect a strong demand for our market leading ballistic ar- mour plates and helmet shells from global customers and look forward to ramping up production.”
XTEK expects to make its first delivery of products for US cus- tomers ‘very shortly’.
ABOVE: The investment comes as the company aims to tap into the US market.
XTEK
NIGEL PITTAWAY