Germany’s Federal Office of Bundeswehr Equipment, Information Technology and In-Service Support (BAAINBw) awarded Europe’s Airbus a contract to retrofit 26 CH-53 heavy transport helicopters, the company said Monday.
The contract covers obsolescence management for components that are no longer available on the market and will begin by replacing them with up-to-date parts.
Airbus said the retrofit will guarantee that the CH-53s will operate through at least 2030. The process is set to start this year and be completed by 2022. It will occur at Airbus Helicopters’ Military Support Center Germany in Donauworth.
“This order enables both the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) and also our Donauwörth plant to plan ahead with certainty,” Wolfgang Schoder, CEO of Airbus Helicopters Deutschland, said in a statement.
Schoder also highlighted for decades Airbus has been the German specialist for maintaining, repairing and modernizing heavy transport helicopters.
Lockheed Martin‘s [LMT] Sikorsky unit is the original manufacturer of the CH-53.