By Skies Magazine | June 2, 2016 Estimated reading time 3 minutes, 37 seconds.
The first of the four CC-177s was delivered in the summer of 2007 and the last arrived in April 2008. Galen Burrows Photo
Boeing has fulfilled its industrial and technological benefits (ITB) obligations on the four CC-177 Globemaster III strategic transport aircraft delivered to the Royal Canadian Air Force in 2007 and 2008.
During a briefing at CANSEC 2016 in Ottawa on May 25, Roger Schallom, Boeing’s senior manager for international business development and industrial participation, said the company had exceeded its commitment of $749 million in offsets a year ahead of schedule.
“As a result of this program, more Canadian parts are being integrated into Boeing products and opportunities are being presented that can help support healthy growth for the Canadian industry well into the future,” he said.
Schallom credited Innovation, Science, and Economic Development Canada (formerly Industry Canada) for helping the company develop a plan that met SME (small- and medium-sized enterprise) and technology sub-requirements and was “geared toward bringing long-term value to Canadian industry.”
As a well-established platform when it was introduced into the RCAF, the CC-177 did not present many opportunities for direct ITBs. The RCAF did customize portions of the communications suite, but that did not generate a significant work package for Canadian industry, he said.
Boeing’s plan included 61 companies, 21 of which were SMEs, in eight provinces and involved aerospace manufacturing, research and development, engineering software, training systems for a range of its military and civilian aircraft, and other programs.
Boeing, which is about to mark 100 years of operations in Canada, employs more than 2,000 people at 12 locations and draws from over 600 suppliers across the country for almost all of its commercial aircraft and most of its military platforms, making Canada one of its largest supply bases.
“We have (offset) obligations all around the world…[that are] tailored to the specific goals of that country,” said Jim Barnes, Boeing’s director for business development in Canada’s military, space and security sectors. Finding partners has been easier in Canada, he said, “because of the quality of suppliers available to us.”
In March, Boeing recognized six companies—Apex Industries, Avcorp Industries, Fellfab Ltd., Magellan Aerospace, Messier Dowty (now Safran Landing Systems), and Valiant Machine & Tool—with its annual performance excellence awards.
“We look at Canada for breadth and depth of capabilities,” said Barnes.
The first of the four CC-177s was delivered in the summer of 2007 and the last arrived in April 2008. The first aircraft was immediately called into service as part of Canada’s disaster relief response to the aftermath of Hurricane Dean in Jamaica in 2007.
Boeing still has ITB obligations for a fifth CC-177 acquired in 2014 and delivered in March 2015.
