On Track: Middle East Propulsion Company Expands its Product Portfolio
Munich, Riyadh, November 15, 2013 – The leading Saudi Arabian engine maintenance company Middle East Propulsion Company has strengthened its position as a provider of military engine maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) services for the whole of the Middle East region. Today, barely four years later after MTU’s acquisition of a 19-percent share in 2009, MEPC’s product portfolio has been continuously extended. The Middle East Propulsion Company has expanded its module maintenance work by winning contracts for the RB199, the engine powering the RSAF Tornado fleet. Furthermore the MRO capability for the PT6 engine installed on the RSAF’s Pilatus PC-9 and PC-21 training aircraft has recently been established and the company is awaiting certification approval for maintenance work on the T56 engine that powers the RSAF fleet of C-130 Hercules. This approval is expected by the first quarter of 2014. As a result the company will be in a position to offer full overhaul services for two additional turboprop engines. In addition to this expansion, MEPC has been awarded with a follow-on contract of the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW220 engines for the Boeing F15 beginning November 2013. This contract was put on tender for the first time and was won by MEPC against strong international competition. The F15 has been the backbone of the company in past years.
“MEPC has a dedicated as well as well-qualified and certified workforce and a highly committed management team, the perfect basis for becoming the leading provider of military maintenance services across the whole of the Middle East,” says Klaus Guenther, Senior Vice President Defense Programs, MTU Aero Engines. “The acquisition of additional programs at MEPC in less than four years represents a tremendous achievement.”
MEPC has ambitious goals for the future and plans to add more programs to its existing portfolio. This includes obtaining a maintenance contract from Eurojet and its partners for the EJ200 engines installed on the RSAF Eurofighter Typhoon fleet. Saudi Arabia has ordered 72 Eurofighter Typhoons, 32 of which have already been delivered, and prospects are good for a follow-on order. MTU contributes the low-pressure and high-pressure compressors and the digital engine control unit (FADEC) to the EJ200 program. Other engines targeted include the General Electric F110-229 for the F15 Fighter, T700 for the UH-60 Black Hawk and AH-64 Apache helicopters operated by the RSAF, and the AGT1500 tank engine built by Honeywell.
Middle East Propulsion Company is based in Riyadh the capital of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and is the major military engine MRO company in the Middle East. By the end of 2013, it will have a workforce of 89 employees and an annual sales volume of more than 60 million U.S. dollars. MEPC is a joint-venture partnership of Pratt & Whitney a United Technologies Corporation (UTC) company, Saudi Arabian Airlines, Saudi Aerospace Company (SAC), WAMAR and MTU Aero Engines. MEPC’s prime customer at the moment is the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF), which operates its Pratt & Whitney F100-PW220 engines as well as its PT6 and T56 engines and the RB199s powering its Tornado jets to MEPC.
If you wish to learn more about MTU’s engagement in the Middle East, please visit us at this year’s Dubai Air Show, booth 1006. For more details go to: http://www.mtu.de/en/takeoff/archive_homepage_specials/2013_11_Dubai/index.html
About MTU Aero Engines
MTU Aero Engines is Germany's leading and the country's only independent engine manufacturer and is an established global player in the industry. It engages in the development, manufacture, marketing and support of commercial and military aircraft engines and industrial gas turbines. The company is a technological leader in low-pressure turbines, high-pressure compressors, manufacturing processes and repair techniques. In the commercial maintenance area, MTU Maintenance is the world's largest independent provider of engine maintenance services. In the military arena, MTU Aero Engines is Germany's industrial lead company for practically all engines flown by the country's military. MTU operates affiliates around the globe; Munich is home to its corporate headquarters. In fiscal 2012, the company had a workforce of some 8,500 employees and posted consolidated sales of some 3.4 billion euros. In early March of this year, the company won the German Industry’s 32nd Innovation Award, and in April, it was honored with the German Innovation Award. In both instances, MTU received the recognition for the geared turbofan™ engine’s high-speed low-pressure turbine.
