An AlliedSignal F124 engine was successfully installed in a T-45A aircraft July 2, 1996 in preparation for ground and flight testing. McDonnell Douglas and AlliedSignal teamed to offer the T-45A with the F124 engine for the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Lead-In Fighter (LIF) program. The F124 is a modern, advanced technology engine with a high thrust/weight ratio, a modular design for simplified maintenance, a long life (4,000-hour hot and cold section life), and a dual redundant Full Authority Digital Electronic Control for engine control and maintenance data recording. The F124 is also the only engine of its thrust class to meet the most rigorous design, test and qualification requirements ever imposed on a turbine engine by the U.S. military (MIL-E-87231). McDonnell Douglas and AlliedSignal performed final assembly, test and maintenance of the LIF engines at Hawker de Havilland in Perth. The tender included an engine service plan similar to the cost-effective commercial plane widely used by the AlliedSignal in the civil aircraft industry. The plan provided the RAAF a fixed cost per equivalent flight hour, transferred cost risk to the contractor and simplified budgeting for engine maintenance.