Tel Aviv: The Air Maintenance Unit 22 is the Israeli air force’s (IAF) top technical unit. It performs heavy maintenance of all the aircraft used by the force and in certain situations manufactures parts and assemblies by its own capabilities including a growing number of 3D printed ones. Raksha Anirveda was allowed to visit this unique unit that is operating in the IAF Tel Nof base.
The need for spares that are no longer available on the market, brought the IAF to use 3D printing technology to make them. The printed parts in many cases, are lighter and stronger than the old ones, made in obsolete manufacturing processes. The unit’s experts are manufacturing 3D parts made of Aluminium, Titanium and composite materials.
An IAF source told Raksha Anirveda that the unit is performing 3D printing with some academic institutes in Israel in order to be able to stretch the 3D printing technology further. The unit faces some technical challenges as it is required to perform upgrades on aircraft that were supposed to be phased out years ago. One good example is the IAF’s CH-53 heavy helicopter. The IAF has recently selected the CH-53K as its new heavy helicopter but the old CH-53 will have to fly for some more years.
The unit works according to the manufacturer directives but all the accumulated technical experience collected by its engineers and technicians is also a very important input. When the IAF selected the F-35,
a decision was made not to send the stealth aircraft for heavy maintenance to regional maintenance centres abroad. Currently, a special hangar is being built in the unit where all the heavy maintenance of the F-35 will be performed.
The unit is also the maintenance centre for all the medium and large UAV’s used by the IAF. When almost 80 % of the IAF’s flight hours are performed by UAV’s, these very advanced platforms are being sent to the unit for periodical maintenance and upgrade. The UAV’s are made mostly of composite materials, a fact that brought the unit to master the manufacturing and repair of composite parts.
The unit boasts a heritage – a damaged aircraft is brought back to service while in other air forces it would find its way to the junk yard. When I visited the unit, an F-15 that recently performed an emergency landing when one main wheel was not extended, was in the last phase of rebuilding after heavily damaged. “It will soon fly like a brand new aircraft,” an IAF source said.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist. The views expressed are of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views of Raksha Anirveda
