Repair Services Deal Worth A Reported $3.1 Million

The Eurofighter consortium has signed a five year contract with IFS to maintain its IFS Applications-based system, which is handling the Industrial Repair Service (IRS) for the Eurofighter Typhoon aircraft. The contract will continue to support Typhoon deployments through the next 5 years, enabling through-life management and support initiatives, is valued in excess of $3.1 million.

IRS, which is a key component of the aircraft’s repair and overhaul solution, has included modifications and enhancements to align the system to changing commercial and operational environments. The Eurofighter consortium targets further improvements to handle Radar and DASS items which are now managed under this service.

Eurofighter Typhoon has been designed for ease of support over its full service life, and will deliver high operational availability together with low cost of ownership. IRS is a key component of the support solution and allows Eurofighter nations to track critical parts on the operating base or aircraft, through the industrial repair loop and transportation system. Performance-related functionality links payment for the exchange service to the supplier’s performance, in terms of waiting times and number of defects per flying hour. Payments and/or penalties are also linked to agreed performance measurement criteria. The groundbreaking system is now in use by over 200 users in Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom. The users of the system are staff of Eurofighter, the European Partner Companies (EPCs), Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM’s), National Air Forces, the National Support Center’s, the International Weapon System Support Center, Equipment Suppliers and Transportation Agencies working on the Eurofighter project.

Iain Green, Managing Director of IFS Defence, added: "The IFS Applications-based IRS system has reached another significant milestone with the signature of this five-year support contract (Phase 3)—confirming Eurofighter’s commitment to IFS Defence as supplier of a key operation system for Typhoon aircraft in service with the British, German, Italian and Spanish Air Forces and other potential export customers. We will continue to invest in our software solution to maintain our position as the leading supplier of Project Based ERP, EAM and MRO solutions to the Aerospace & Defense market."

Aerospace and defense is one of IFS’ targeted market segments. IFS Applications™ provides market leading off-the-shelf component based solutions that support Performance Based Logistics (PBL), Contractor Logistics Support (CLS), and Fleet Operator programs; and solutions for Defense Manufacturing, Maintenance Repair and Overhaul (MRO), Asset & Fleet Management, Supply Chain Management and Product Lifecycle Management.

Customers include the United States Army and Air Force Materiel Commands, British Navy and Army and the Norwegian Navy and Air Force; as well as the Eurofighter consortium—commercial MRO shops and service operators include Bristow Helicopters, Aero-Dienst GmbH, K&L Microwave, Hawker Pacific, Ensign Bickford, Todd Pacific Shipyards and Lufthansa Technik Qantas (LTQ, formerly known as Jet Turbine Systems). In addition, IFS provides solutions to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) such as General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin, BAE SYSTEMS, SAAB, and GE Aircraft Engines.

FMI: www.eurofighter.com