By Andrea Shalal
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Australia has picked Britain’s BAE Systems to carry out heavy maintenance of Lockheed Martin Corp’s F-35 fighter jet in Australia from 2018 and Tasman Aviation Enterprises (TAE) to service its engines, sources familiar with the decision said on Monday.
The Australian government was expected to announce the decision on Tuesday local time, according to the sources, who were not authorized to speak publicly.
A spokeswoman for Australian Defence Minister Kevin Andrews, speaking under customary departmental condition of anonymity, said that she could not immediately confirm the decision.
It was unclear when the announcement would be made, following a challenge on Monday to Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s leadership, from which experts said that he emerged politically weakened.
In December, the Pentagon announced that Australia would handle heavy maintenance for the jets and their engines in the southern Pacific, while Japan would handle that work in the northern Pacific. Heavy maintenance involves repairs that involve the structure of the airplanes or engines.
The companies involved were not named at the time, although BAE was seen as the likely winner given that it already owns the depot where heavy maintenance of Boeing Co F/A-18 Hornets is performed.
Details of the expected revenues for the companies were not immediately available, but former Australian Defence Minister David Johnston in December said Australia’s defence industry could win more than $1.5 billion (£985.6 million) in F-35-related production and support work over the life of the programme.
(Additional reporting by Matt Siegel in Sydney; Editing by Cynthia Osterman and Michael Perry)
BAE Systems, TAE to handle F-35 maintenance in Australia
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