Final RAF Tornado handed over
Director Combat Air, Air Vice-Marshal Keith Bethell, witnessed the handover of the final RAF Tornado GR4 to undergo a ‘major’ maintenance as part of the Availability Transformation Tornado Aircraft Contract (ATTAC).
The event took place last month at RAF Marham’s Combined Maintenance and Upgrade facility in a ceremony also attended by Group Captain Steve Ward OBE, the Tornado Force Commander and RAF Marham Station Commander, Group Captain Rich Davies ADC, along with BAE Systems’ Director Combat Air (UK), Mr Steve Greenbank and his designate Mr Chris Kelly.
The ATTAC contract was signed in 2006 and was the first of its kind anywhere in the world in which industry guaranteed combat aircraft availability for military operations.
Over the last decade, the military and civilian team at RAF Marham have jointly completed 233 aircraft deep maintenances and a similar number of capability upgrades.
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The partnership between DE&S, the RAF and BAE Systems has released hundreds of RAF personnel to serve on the front-line, in addition to maintaining and upgrading the fleet as it undertook operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and, more recently, Syria.
Thus far, the contract has saved the UK taxpayer £1.39 billion. The UK Government has announced that the RAF’s GR4 fleet is to be retired, and, therefore the handover of this aircraft (ZA 611) also marks the closure of the Tornado’s major maintenance lines. ‘Minor’ maintenance lines will continue at RAF Marham, with the last Tornado maintenance scheduled to be carried out from October 31, 2017.
DE&S Director Combat Air, Air Vice-Marshal Keith Bethell, said: “This contract, by combining the unique skills of RAF personnel and BAE Systems employees, has kept our battle-winning Tornado aircraft at the forefront of UK operations, while generating savings of £1.39 billion for the taxpayer.
“The strength of our partnerships across industry is central to the success story around Tornado, which continues as the aircraft prepares to hand over operations to Typhoon and Lightning II in 2019.”
Tornado Force Commander, Group Captain Steve Ward OBE, accepted the final Tornado to undergo a major maintenance on behalf of the RAF.
He added: “It was certainly a day of mixed emotions as the handover of the aircraft marks the start of the drawdown of Tornado support. It is testament to the hard work and dedication of the manpower within our Combined Maintenance and Upgrade Facility, whether service or industrial partner, that have worked on the maintenance and upgrading of the Tornado over the years to ensure that it is available and capable to continue to support operations across the globe.
“Although this signals the start of the draw-down, we must remember that the Tornado remains at the forefront of operations as our squadrons support the fight against Daesh over Iraq and Syria”.
