Air-to-air Refueling
On August 14, 2017, we announced that we have entered into a definitive purchase agreement for the acquisition of six Lockheed L-1011s formerly owned and operated by the Royal Air Force (RAF) of the United Kingdom. Four of these aircraft are specifically configured for air-to-air refueling (AAR) operations and the remaining two are configured for passenger and cargo operations only. Although the aircraft served the RAF and NATO for 30 years until their retirement in 2014, the aircraft have many years of service life remaining. The L-1011s have been in flyable storage in the UK since their retirement. The closing of the acquisition will take place following satisfactory inspection of the aircraft and associated log books and support equipment.
We intend to utilize three of the AAR configured aircraft while the additional three aircraft will be used as spare parts. Marketing of the aircraft for contractor owned/operated AAR operations will begin immediately with a focus on the US Navy, NATO, and other allied air forces which require hose and drogue AAR services. The aircraft are currently registered in the United States and will be ferried from the UK to an existing TAS base of operations in the continental USA upon acceptance and the completion of required maintenance.
Representative Experience of our Personnel
Special Mission Modification and Aircraft Leasing
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Providing three Pilatus PC-12s with advanced ISR equipment for deployment in Africa, in 56 days.
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Providing Bombardier Global Express aircraft with advanced ISR equipment for the U.S. Air Force.
Wide Body Aircraft VIP Interior Conversions
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Boeing 777 for head of state.
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Airbus A-340 for corporate client.
Customers
We market to a global customer base of U.S. and foreign governments, corporations, heads of state, high net worth individuals and others. Customers and prospective customers include agencies in the U.S. intelligence community, the DoD, the U.S. Air Force, Army and Navy, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and large prime U.S. government contractors.
Competition
We believe that our expertise, certifications and U.S. government security clearances allow us to compete effectively within our target markets. In the special mission modifications and leasing markets, we compete with companies that provide ISR and data acquisition modification solutions to both turboprop and business jet aircraft for government customer users. These companies include Orbital ATK, Dynamic Aviation, L-3 Communications, Field Aviation, Israel Aerospace Industries and Sierra Nevada. Within the design and engineering market, we compete with companies that have wide body completion data licenses, including Associated Air Center, Comlux, Greenpoint and Jet Aviation.
Employees
We currently have 11 employees, including 7 in operational roles and 4 in executive and administrative roles. Consistent with industry practice, the Company utilizes contract labor on an as-needed basis, which can range between ten and 50 people, depending on the scope of the contract.
