Boeing Defence Australia has completed its 100th deeper maintenance activity for the Royal Australian Air Force’s F/A-18A/B Hornet fighter aircraft, representing more than 500,000 hours of work over four years.
The RAAF celebrated the achievement of the milestone alongside the Boeing unit based at Williamtown, Boeing said in a statement.
“The incredible daily serviceability rates we’ve seen over the past couple of years have not been by accident. Without the coordinated and integrated efforts of Air Force, Boeing and other support agencies we would be unable to sustain such a high tempo on operations in the Middle East, and in vital training in Australia,” said a spokesperson for 81 Wing.
Boeing Defence Australia integrated services and support general manager Murray Brabrook said that the team has been maintaining about 10 aircraft at any one time during operations.
“Boeing conducted 59 classic Hornet test flights in 2016 alone, with the team at Williamtown working diligently to ensure we provide the RAAF with a quality product on time and within budget,” Brabrook said.