French Air Force renews AWACS support contract with AFI KLM E&M

Air France and SIMMAD, the French Defense Ministry’s Aircraft Through Life Support Organization, have renewed the through life support contract for the fleet of four AWACS surveillance aircraft operated by the French Air Force for a further five years, effective 1 September 2011. Through life support covers the complete array of AWACS engineering support services. AFI KLM E&M will accordingly be responsible for technical and documentary support for the aircraft and its mission-specific systems, painting, and heavy maintenance concurrently with Mid-Life Upgrade work, maintaining the related engineering resources, and providing IT and logistics support services. Two related projects will also be continued under the terms of the contract: the digitization of all technical documentation, and the integration of airworthiness monitoring into the AWACS computer systems.