News Review: Deep F-111 relationship ends | ADM Dec 09/Jan 10

Boeing Defence Australia (BDA) and the RAAF held a ceremony at RAAF Base Amberley in early November, to commemorate the completion of the F-111 Deeper Maintenance Program, ahead of the fleet's planned retirement at the end of 2010.

F-111 A8-135 was handed back to 82 Wing, RAAF in Hangar 278, where Deeper Maintenance work began on the first F-111 35 years ago.

Air Commodore Roy McPhail, Director General of Aerospace Combat Systems, and Group Captain Peter Lloyd, Officer Commanding - 82 Wing, took delivery of the final F-111 from BDA Vice President and Managing Director John Duddy.

"The maintenance systems introduced with the F-111 aircraft have been a mainstay of defence and industry's high-tech support capabilities for well over 35 years," Air Cdre McPhail said.

"The completion of the F-111 Deeper Maintenance program will ensure the F-111 fleet remains fully capable until the replacement F/A-18F Super Hornets come on line."

Air Commodore McPhail said the range of technologies introduced to the RAAF with the acquisition of the F-111s had led to significant capability development over the life of the aircraft.

"The F-111 was an incredibly huge leap into the future when it landed here at Amberley," Air Cdre McPhail said.

"The F-111 introduced the absolute leading edge of aviation design to the RAAF.

"We had the variable geometry wings, and the complex high-life devices on those wings.

"We had automatic flight controls, we had a crew ejection module.

"The afterburning turbofan engines, terrain-following radar, aluminium honeycomb panels, complex electronic warfare equipment - each of these technologies introduced a new challenge to the RAAF's engineering and maintenance organisation.

"The response to these challenges has made Australia's aviation capability richer, more effective, and more professional."

The Deeper Maintenance program began in 1974 with the RAAF, and transitioned to Boeing in 2001, for a total of 500,000-plus work hours.

BDA, which recently received an Engineering Excellence Award from the Queensland Division of Engineers Australia for its F-111 support, is contracted to perform light maintenance activities until the fleet's withdrawal from service at the end of 2010.

The company says it is "working hard" to retain as many F-111 BDA employees as possible through the workforce planning process, and says employees who cannot be retrained or reassigned to other positions, such as Super Hornet sustainment or Wedgetail support, will receive redundancy.

End of an era
While attending the ceremony at RAAF Base Amberley, ADM had the opportunity to visit the F-111 ‘graveyard', where 13 retired G-model F-111 aircraft are kept, stripped of all components usable to support the active fleet.

These aircraft are to be shredded and the material sold for scrap; the Defence Department released an RFP in early December for a contractor to undertake the destruction and disposal of 13 aircraft, 70 TF-30 engines and associated equipment.

The RFP closes in January 2010, and Defence hopes to have the disposal completed by the end of March.

The current active F-111C fleet will face a similar fate once retired at the end of 2010, although whether the same contractors will complete both disposal processes is yet to be decided.