Rheinmetall has been commissioned by the Bundeswehr to support, maintain and repair Sikorsky CH-53G transport helicopters. From March 2021, the company will operate two maintenance docks at the German Air Force’s Helicopter Wing 64 in Diepholz.
The contract with Rheinmetall Aviation Services GmbH runs for five years and can optionally be extended by one year. The contract value is in the lower double-digit million euro range. In Diepholz, Helicopter Wing 64 is responsible for major maintenance work in a separate area and has a total of five Bundeswehr-owned maintenance docks for the CH-53G – an aircraft type that has been in service with the Bundeswehr since 1972. The Düsseldorf-based integrated technology group won the tender and will carry out the maintenance work on the Bundeswehr helicopters at the Diepholz site with its company Rheinmetall Aviation Services GmbH (RAS). RAS will be supported by its sister company Rheinmetall Technical Publications GmbH, an approved aviation technology company based at Bremen Airport, in the areas of organization and aviation law. Rheinmetall Aviation Services GmbH, which is also based in Bremen, was founded at the beginning of 2019 for the strategic cooperation with Sikorsky in the Heavy Transport Helicopter (STH) procurement project and is to take over the maintenance, repair, training and documentation parts of this program. Rheinmetall and Sikorsky have been working together intensively on various procurement projects since 2009.
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