Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group (ADG) will provide MRO (maintenance, repair, overhaul) services for the Kuwait Air Force’s three Lockheed Martin KC-130Js, the company announced on January 6. The multi-year contract was awarded by the U.S. Naval Air Systems Command (Navair), whose Tactical Airlift Progam Office (PMA-207) administers this Foreign Military Sales contract.
Under the deal, Marshall ADG will perform Planned Maintenance Interval inspections and specific overhaul tasks, as well as repainting. With only three aircraft in the fleet, the KAF will plan its maintenance schedule so that only one is at Marshall’s facility in Cambridge, England, at any time. Kuwait flies its three KC-130Js on a mix of transport and tanker missions, the latter primarily to support the country’s F/A-18C/D fighter fleet. The trio is assigned to No. 41 Squadron at Kuwait International Airport, which also flies the KAF’s two Boeing C-17A Globemaster IIIs.
“We are delighted to have been awarded this U.S. government contract," said Marshall ADG’s CEO, Alistair McPhee. “The Kuwait Air Force is a very important customer and we appreciate the trust the U.S. government has shown in our MRO capabilities. We continue to expand our international market share for C-130 support and I’m pleased to see the development of our relationship with Navair and the U.S. government, following the contract for the replacement 'Fat Albert' last year.” The latter remark referred to the sale of a former RAF C-130J to act as the support aircraft for the U.S. Navy’s Blue Angels flight demonstration team, following maintenance, painting, and modification by Marshall ADG.
Marshall ADG is well-known around the world for its MRO capabilities, notably concerning the C-130 Hercules, with which its association dates back more than five decades through support of the RAF fleet. Currently, the company is completing work on the last of a batch of five ex-RAF C-130Js that have been sold to the Bangladesh air force. Marshall is undertaking a major overhaul and modification of the “short-body” Hercules C.Mk 5 aircraft before delivery to Bangladesh. Four are already in the country with the fifth due to arrive in March.
