Lithuanian company to help maintain Ethiopian Air Force aircraft

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Lithuanian company FL Technics has won a tender to provide spare parts and components for aircraft operated by the Ethiopian Air Force (EAF), including L-39, An-12 and An-32 trainers and transports.

The aircraft maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) company made the announcement on 18 March, saying the company’s military division – FL Technics Defence – will ensure the provision of various spare parts for Aero L-39 Albatros, Antonov An-12 and An-32 aircraft.
“The first set of spare parts has been already delivered to the customer with the remaining components to reach Addis Ababa until the end of spring. FL Technics will provide the required components from its own stock and the network of worldwide partners,” the company said.
“We greatly value our cooperation with the Ethiopian Air Force and hope that the successful execution of this contract will help us win the trust of the Ethiopian Ministry of Defence in future tenders. We also anticipate that this tender will facilitate our communication with other military as well as governmental aircraft operators across Africa and the Middle East,” said Zilvinas Lapinaskas, CEO of FL Technics.

The company provides MRO services for Airbus, Antonov, ATR, Boeing, Ilyushin, MiG and Sukhoi aircraft.

Ethiopia has a relatively well equipped, trained and maintained air force, which is one of the most capable on the continent. However, it has lost a number of aircraft to neighbouring Eritrea and Kenya through defecting pilots and technicians.

The Ethiopian Air Force’s fixed wing combat fleet includes roughly a dozen MiG-21s, a dozen MiG-23s, eight Su-25s and a dozen Su-27s. The Su-27s were bought in the late 1990s and used in combat against Eritrean MiG-29s.

Fixed wing transport aircraft include five C-130B/C-130E/L-100-30 Hercules, over half a dozen An-12s (one crashed in Mogadishu in August 2013), half a dozen C-47s, and a handful of An-32s, An-26s, Yak-40s, Twin Otters and Y-12s.

Training is carried out by half a dozen L-39s and several SF-260s.

The rotary wing component includes Mi-24/35 Hind, UH-1H (Ethiopian Army Aviation), SA-316 Alouette III, Mi-6, Mi-8/17, SA 330 Puma and  Mi-14 helicopters.