Contract award: pilot project accelerates repairs

The overhaul of chassis and hydraulic components of weapon systems like the Eurofighter or the NATO Helicopter 90 (NH90) shall take place more quickly and cost-efficiently in the future. For this purpose, a new contract was concluded on 31 Januar 2024 at the Federal Office of Equipment, Information Technology and Use of the Bundeswehr in Koblenz. Representatives of the BAAINBw (Federal Office of Equipment, Information Technology and Use of the German Army), L1.6 and L2.6, as well as of the company TEST-FUCHS GmbH (incorporated / limited liability company) signed the contract together. This shall facilitate processes in the future and accelerate overhaul of the required test stands. With the contract a pilot project of the work group Performance Based Logistics (PBL) for flying weapon systems as part of the control group for the use of flying weapon systems of the German Federal Ministry of Defence (BMVg) has been concluded to increase / preserve the operational readiness of the flying main weapon systems of the Bundeswehr from a material point of view. PBL is a methodic approach: The responsibility of how a targeted performance result is reached as an objective is left to the contractor. Simultaneously the remuneration is linked to the achievement of this result. In addition, the service provision and performance quality of the contractor shall be monitored on the basis of key figures.

Concretely the maintenance and repair including spare parts procurement for test stands are planned to be performed by the company TEST-FUCHS GmbH at the repair center 12 of the German Air Force in Ummendorf in Baden-Württemberg. The required repair and management services for the test systems on site will come from a single source in the future. 26 hydraulic test stands from the company TEST-FUCHS required for testing of chassis and hydraulic components of the weapon systems Eurofighter, Tornado, NH90 (NATO Helicopter 90), the support helicopter Tiger and the transport helicopter Sikorsky CH-53 are currently located at repair center 12. The target: Improving reliability and availability of these test stands in a sustainable way and reducing lifecycle costs.