Woensdrecht, The Netherlands – June 17, 2016 – As part of a partnership for international F-35 aircraft support, the Netherlands’ Ministry of Defence (MOD) and StandardAero have signed an agreement for establishing F135 military engine maintenance, repair, overhaul and upgrade (MRO&U) Depot services at Logistic Center Woensdrecht — a Netherlands Air Force Base, centrally located on the European continent.
On June 11, Air Commodore Verbeek, on behalf of the Royal Netherlands Air Force (RNLAF), and Scott Starrett, President of StandardAero Military & Energy, signed the Letter of Intent (LOI) to begin the process of developing this strategic partnership for servicing upgrade activities on F135 engines, with the goal to achieve initial Depot capability status by the end of 2019.
In late 2014, the U.S. government selected the Netherlands as one of its future F135 depot locations in Europe. Since that time, both the Netherlands government and the Province of Noord-Brabant have secured funding to invest in facilities, tooling and equipment required to operate the Depot.
“This LOI marks the starting point of a common vision and goal for this very important partnership,” said Scott Starrett, President of StandardAero Military & Energy. “Our international military services are aligned with all key constituents, including governments, OEMs and end users. We look forward to providing the world’s finest F135 engine MRO capabilities from Woensdrecht Air Force Base.”
The F135 Depot set up and operation will be accomplished as a Public-Private Partnership between the State of the Netherlands and StandardAero through a Government Owned, Company Operated (GOCO) construct. The GOCO partnership will also secure additional opportunities for more and/or other F135 related activities, which will be created as the F-35 program evolves and more European countries join the F-35 program.
StandardAero enabled this agreement through its acquisition of DutchAero Services (DAS) from GE/Avio in March, 2015. Since that time, StandardAero took over the existing operations to establish a Defence Services Europe business unit for providing military MRO&U services for Pratt & Whitney F100 and now, for F135 engines.
The Woensdrecht Depot will become StandardAero’s second MRO operation in the Netherlands and will serve the maintenance needs of the Royal Netherland Air Force (RNLAF) as well as other military operators worldwide. Woensdrecht is one of only three F135 engine Depots in Europe and StandardAero is the first commercial company that will participate in F135 MRO services in Europe.
StandardAero continues to be a premier partner with the world’s defense organizations and turbine engine OEMs.
StandardAero is one of the world’s largest independent providers of services including engine and airframe maintenance, repair and overhaul, engine component repair, engineering services, interior completions and paint applications. StandardAero serves a diverse array of customers in business and general aviation, airline, military, helicopter, components, energy and VIP completions markets. The company celebrated its 100th year of industry leadership in 2011. In 2015, StandardAero was purchased by Veritas Capital, a leading private equity firm headquartered in New York City. Veritas invests in companies that provide critical products and services to government and commercial customers worldwide including those operating in aerospace & defense, healthcare, technology, national security, communications, energy and education. More information can be found on the company’s web site at www.standardaero.com.