BAE Systems appoints new executives in Abu Dhabi

This coincides with the move of the BAE Systems team's offices in Abu Dhabi to the prestigious Baynounah Tower complex near the Corniche. The new executives will support the maintenance of the current fleet of UAE Armed Forces Hawk Trainer Jets. This is in addition to a dedicated field service representative from BAE Systems who is embedded with the Air Force.

Having been with BAE Systems for nearly 35 years, David Potter brings a lifetime of experience to the BAE Systems Abu Dhabi team in his new role as Director of Hawk in the UAE. Prior to this Abu Dhabi posting, Potter was Hawk Team leader in Bahrain. Supporting Potter is Duncan Scott, Hawk Support Manager, who has supported Hawk aircraft and logistics across the world in places such as The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Malaysia and Indonesia. Chris Hart, Hawk Logistics Manager will be working directly with the UAE Air Force and Air Defence as well as GAMCO.

"BAE Systems has had a permanent presence in the Middle East for the past 30 years, and the UAE is an important partner for us in the region," said Ben Bridge, General Manager UAE, BAE Systems.

"BAE Systems' commitment to Abu Dhabi continues, we have expanded our presence in Abu Dhabi with fantastic new office space and increased our in-country based staff. This is in line with our strategy to assist the Gulf Aircraft Maintenance Company (GAMCO) in supporting the existing Hawk fleet and to form long-term sustainable partnerships such as our agreement with Mubadala to work together to develop the country's aerospace industry."

GAMCO was recently awarded a five-year, DH343m, contract from the UAE Air Force & Air Defence, to carry out second-line scheduled and unscheduled maintenance to the UAE's existing fleet of BAE Systems Hawks, the world's most successful advanced jet trainer.

The UAE Armed Forces also announced at IDEX 2007 earlier this year that the all new Hawk Advanced Jet Trainer has been short listed by the UAE AF & AD as a potential solution to their advanced jet training requirement.