How Marshall cleared Bahrain’s first C-130J for landing
Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group recently delivered the first Royal Bahraini Air Force C-130J aircraft. We spoke to Marshall’s Matthew Harvey about what was required to make this happen.
The…
Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group recently delivered the first Royal Bahraini Air Force C-130J aircraft. We spoke to Marshall’s Matthew Harvey about what was required to make this happen.
The Bahrain Defence Force recently bought two Royal Air Force C-130J aircraft from the UK Ministry of Defence. Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group was appointed to carry out depth maintenance, ensure entry into service and support an initial operational capability set-up.
This is the first ever transfer from one government to another government of a C130J aircraft.
The hard part
On what was required to make this major milestone happen, Matthew Harvey, International Sales Director, Military Aerospace for Marshall Aerospace and Defence Group, told FINN: “It was a lot of hard work. That’s what we did. We did all the hard bit.
“We worked very closely with the UK government in supporting the original sale of the aircraft. And where we come into play is supporting what we call ‘the transfer of the aircraft’. So that’s pretty much getting the aircraft ready for delivery to the Royal Bahraini Air Force.
“That encompasses a few modifications that might need to be done to the aircraft, to get the aircraft into the Bahraini configuration.”
He added: “Considering that these aircraft were in operational service with the Royal Air Force before being retired, that also necessitated a major depth maintenance inspection, which was undertaken at our Cambridge facility. And then we’ve also supported the Royal Bahraini Air Force with the initial operational set-up – that means supporting them in ensuring that they’ve got technical experts that are ready on the ground in Bahrain to support the aircraft as they come into operational service.”
The delivery of the second aircraft is expected shortly.
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