News

F-15 FMS Branch holds Industry Day at Robins

  • Published
  • By Jenny Gordon
  • Robins Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  With $2.5 billion in F-15 foreign military sales contracts up for grabs, an Industry Day was held at Robins Tuesday to share acquisition requirements and information on how to support one of the Air Force's premier tactical fighters.

The event was an unprecedented one, because so many contracts being solicited were no longer sole-source contracts within Saudi Arabia, but rather opened worldwide to prospective industry partners, at one time in one location. 

All will support the Royal Saudi Air Force's F-15 FMS program for models C, D, S and SA aircraft. 

The F-15 Foreign Military Sales Division at Robins falls under the Fighters/Bombers Directorate, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center. The office, in addition to other geographic locations, supports the F-15 fleet in Saudi Arabia, as well as the country's fleet sustainment, repair and return of items, depot support and personnel in place to support supply functions. They also print updated technical manuals that support maintenance activities. 

"We're here advertising that we're competing five of the contracts that support these programs," said Brittany Prouty, F-15 Saudi Arabia Division lead program manager. "The outcome that we're looking for after today is to take industry's feedback on how to build our contracts that will work best to continue supporting our efforts."

Those contacts include print on demand, repair and return, aircraft ground equipment, depot prime vendor support and supply support personnel. The outlook is 12 to 16 months to award contracts. 

"Overall, the F-15 FMS program is at $29 billion for the new aircraft," said Lt. Col. Jeffrey Hamblin,    F-15 FMS Branch chief, referring to the sale of F-15SA aircraft to the Saudis. "The big piece of this for Robins is that it will leverage the strategic assets that are already here." 

"The job knowledge and skill set in the local area is like no other in the world," he added. "There are people here who have spent their entire careers on this aircraft and have experience you can't find anyplace else. This will help enhance our strategic partnership with the Saudis because we can leverage that expertise. It's an honor for the Robins team to move forward with this effort." 

The program office at Robins, also home to the 561st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron which maintains the F-15, benefitted from one of the largest foreign military sales contracts in U.S. history through a partnership with Saudi Arabia. An FMS agreement for $29.4 billion was signed in 2011 for the purchase of 84 F-15SA advanced fighter aircraft. 

A total of 50 local and international companies were represented this week.