SINGAPORE — Singapore’s largest defense contractor has signed a series of preliminary maintenance, repair and overhaul agreements with French and Brazilian companies.
ST Engineering signed the deals for MRO work during last week’s Singapore Airshow. They cover Airbus’ C-295 medium transport aircraft and Embraer’s C-390 Millennium airlifter.
ST Engineering has experience providing MRO services to the Republic of Singapore Air Force’s legacy aircraft, including A-4SU Super Skyhawk jets, a company representative told Defense News.
The firm has also performed MRO services for Airbus’ commercial line and conducted freighter conversions, but the recent agreement looks to expand work to the C-295, which will include depot-level maintenance.
Airbus executives said they have been looking for MRO partners in Asia, where 28 C-295 are currently in service with armed forces in Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, Brunei and Bangladesh. The agreement with ST Engineering would only cover C-295 aircraft in the Asia-Pacific region, Airbus told with Defense News, and will not include aircraft from Bangladesh.
The C-295 can be used for surveillance and maritime patrol missions. The French firm Airbus anticipates an increase in C-295 orders following a rising demand for surveillance aircraft in the region.
A spokesperson from ST Engineering told Defense News the firm has not yet finalized the specific C-295 variants involved in the MRO collaboration.
Brazilian company Embraer signed a memorandum of understanding on MRO collaboration with ST Engineering for the C-390. An ST Engineering spokesperson told Defense News via email that the agreement covers engineering, support services and maintenance for the aircraft.
Embraer has not yet announced sales in Southeast Asia but anticipates demand for the C-390 airlifter. The two firms will also cooperate on radars and land systems; border security; simulation; advanced production technologies; command-and-control, communications and computer technologies; and intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition and reconnaissance, according to a news release.
Meanwhile, ST Engineering’s defense aviation services division announced a first-time collaboration with American company Honeywell amid ongoing overhaul work for two C-130s in service with the Tunisian Air Force.
The long-time agreement between the two companies will see Honeywell provide hardware and engineering support to ST Engineering for the Tunisian aircraft. This includes the integration of Honeywell’s Cockpit Display System Retrofit, a system composed of up to five large-format LCD color displays that provide flight controls, air data and altitude sensors.
Leilani Chavez is an Asia correspondent for Defense News. Her reporting expertise is in East Asian politics, development projects, environmental issues and security.
