Military

Boeing Updates Australian F/A-18 Trainers to Aid Maintenance Effectiveness

By Veronica Magan | May 5, 2015
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Three RAAF FA-18 Hornets in formation after refueling U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Matthew Bruch
Three RAAF FA-18 Hornets in formation after refueling U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Matthew Bruch
[Avionics Today 05-05-2015] Boeing will update two maintenance trainers for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) so they better support the RAAF’s F/A-18F and EA-18G aircraft. Australia is the only nation other than the United States flying F/A-18 Super Hornet fighters and EA-18G Growler airborne electronic attack aircraft. While it operates the two-seat F variant of the Super Hornet, its current trainer configuration is for the single-seat variant. The update will configure Australia’s Integrated Visual Environment Maintenance Trainers (IVEMT) to become specifically applicable to the RAAF’s EA-18G aircraft fleet.
 
The work, which will be done under a U.S. Navy foreign military sales agreement with Boeing, will be performed at the Royal Australian Air Force base at Amberley, Queensland, Australia. The upgrades will be complete by the end of 2016.
 
“The trainers need software upgrades to stay current with the aircraft,” said Tom Lavender, manager at the Boeing Navy Training program. “Using the same software in both the trainer and the aircraft allows Super Hornet technicians to perform maintenance tasks exactly as they would on the actual aircraft.”
 
The upgraded trainers will support technicians working on both platforms and will provide them with a key tool to qualify as Super Hornet and Growler technicians.

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