Aery Aviation, LLC (Aery) is the managing member of a joint venture (JV) that has been awarded the five-year U.S. Navy HEEWJ contract by Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIRSYSCOM) for a firm fixed price of $146 million. The contract was awarded to Strategic Airborne Operations JV, LLC, which is a JV between Aery and Mountain Aviation LLC, based in Denver Colorado. “We are proud to have been awarded this mission-critical Navy contract and follow a great legacy of performance with next-generation modernized equipment to serve our Navy partner,” commented Scott Beale, VP of Aery.
Under the contract, Aery will acquire 13 aircraft, including three models of Learjet and Gulfstream IV aircraft, and will complete intense design, engineering, modification, testing, and certification iterations from its Newport News, Virginia, corporate headquarters facilities. The fully modified aircraft will provide the Navy with next-generation services including Stand-Off Jamming, Electronic Attack, and Banner and Target Tow, flying approximately 4,000 flight hours annually CONUS and OCONUS. Aery will be certifying over a dozen FAA supplemental type certificates (STCs) baseline and configuration changes for wing hardpoints, radomes, and a variety of mission-critical systems. Aery’s theme of performance is to upgrade the Navy CAS HEEWJ fleet with modernized equipment and capabilities to replace the legacy equipment.
These aircraft are used to simulate a wide variety of airborne threats to train and test/evaluate shipboard and aircraft squadron weapon systems, operators, and aircrew on how to counter potential enemy Electronic Warfare (EW) and Electronic Attack (EA) operations in today’s Electronic Combat (EC) environment. This support is provided in a variety of venues, from basic “schoolhouse” Air Intercept Control (AIC) training to large multinational exercises and small, single-unit training exercises, including target/banner tow missions. Locations include multiple Continental United States (CONUS) sites and foreign and remote operating bases outside the Continental United States (OCONUS). HEEWJ Capabilities may include customers from other Department of Defense (DoD) agencies and services, non-DoD government agencies, and Foreign Military Sales (FMS) customers.
