Today I visited TAE Aerospace’s Turbine Engine Maintenance Facility (TEMF) site in Bundamba, south-east Queensland, which will support in-country sustainment of Australia’s fifth-generation fighter jets.
Defence will be a major, but not exclusive, customer of the new facility near Ipswich when it begins operating from July next year.
Defence’s contract with TAE Aerospace will support maintenance, repair, overhaul, and upgrade (MRO&U) activities for F135 engines, as well as existing Australian Defence Force capabilities.
TAE Aerospace is 100 per cent Australian-owned with over 245 employees at several sites across Australia – including 182 in Queensland – and holds contracts to support Classic Hornet, Super Hornet, Growler and M1 Abrams tank engines.
The addition of the F135 engine MRO&U activities will add a minimum of 15 new aerospace technician jobs to its Queensland workforce.
The global Joint Strike Fighter Program has had a positive impact on Australia’s growing defence industry, which has collectively been awarded in excess of AU$1.2 billion in production contracts and will support up to 5,000 Australian jobs by 2023.
