GE Procures Plum Aviation Contract For Australian Project

GE Aviation, one of the operating segments of industrial goods manufacturer General Electric Company GE, recently procured a $9.7 million contract from the U.S. Navy. The contract entails the aviation division to obtain conversion kits for the Australian government's F/A-18 aircrafts.

Manufactured by The Boeing Company BA, the F/A-18 aircraft is a state-of-the-art tactical aircraft in the U.S. Navy inventory. It offers cutting-edge multi-role strike fighter capability and flexibility to perform virtually every mission in the tactical spectrum. These include day/night strike with precision-guided weapons, fighter escort, close air support, suppression of enemy air defenses, maritime strike, reconnaissance, forward air control and tanker missions.

Australia has a fleet of more than 70 1980s-era F/A-18 Hornets and 24 F/A-18F Super Hornets, which are essentially a new model of aircraft. GE Aviation makes electric power generators and related systems for military and civilian aircraft. This will help the Australian government to gradually phase out the F/A-18 with F-35 aircrafts.

The contact will be executed by GE Aviation's Vandalia facility in Dayton region. GE Aviation has three plants in Dayton with 1,300 employees combined and such contracts will keep the business humming in the region. Additionally, the deal is likely to augment the revenues of the company as it aims to script a turnaround in 2018.

Shares of GE have underperformed the industry year to date, with an average loss of 44.8% significantly wider than a decline of 4.1% for the latter. In order to boost the company's sagging shares, CEO John Flannery has decided to focus on just three core segments — power, aviation and health-care equipment — and gradually exit all other businesses.

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