ST Engineering Aerospace, formerly known as ST Aerospace, is the commercial aerospace entity of ST Engineering. Headquartered in Singapore, it has international offices and facilities located at aviation hubs in Asia-Pacific, Europe and the United States. ST Engineering's Commercial Aerospace business provides solutions for practically every stage of an aircraft life cycle, from design and engineering, original equipment manufacturing, nose-to-tail aftermarket and maintenance services as well as assets management and leasing. And also through passenger-to-freighter conversion or refurbishment, ST Engineering Aerospace gives ageing aircraft a new lease of life. ST Engineering Aerospace was established in 1975 to provide maintenance and support services to the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF). Since then, it has diversified into various MRO capabilities for commercial and military aircraft through a number of strategic partnerships, acquisitions and investments. Major undertakings have included development of the A-4SU Super Skyhawk, a highly modified model of the Douglas A-4S Skyhawk, and the Eurocopter EC120 Colibri programme, a lightweight helicopter, in partnership with Airbus Helicopters and China National Aero-Technology Import & Export Corporation (CATIC). In 2021, ST Engineering Aerospace reportedly employs more than 8,500 certified engineers and administrative specialists around the world and has a global customer base that includes major airlines and freight carriers. Aviation Week ranked the aerospace company as the world's largest, independent, third party airframe MRO provider with an annual capacity of more than 13 million commercial airframe man-hours in 2018. Projects During the 1980s, ST Engineering Aerospace commenced work on a major upgrade programme on the Douglas A-4S Skyhawk attack aircraft then in service with the Republic of Singapore Air Force (RSAF). Referred to as the A-4SU Super Skyhawk, the modification package involved replacing the original Wright J65 turbojet engine with a non-afterburning model of the newer General Electric F404-GE-100D turbofan engine, along with a complete modernisation of the avionics suite and additional equipment being installed, including a Pave Penny laser seeker, an Inertial navigation system (INS), a Tactical air navigation system (TACAN), fore & aft Radar warning receivers (RWR) and chaff/flare countermeasures) of the aircraft. The F404 engine provided 29% more thrust, resulting in a 30% reduction in takeoff time as well as an increase in usable payload, range and maximum speed of at sea level. In total, approximately 150 airframes (all A-4Bs and Cs) were acquired by Singapore. Since the 1990s, ST Engineering Aerospace has been a partner involved in the Eurocopter